


How It Could Be

by YukiTenshi18



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hallucinations, Irondad, Memory Alteration, Mentioned Natasha Romanov - Freeform, Minor Violence, More tags to be added, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Needs a Hug, Peter Parker-centric, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Spoilers, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Wakanda (Marvel), spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2020-02-10 05:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18653620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YukiTenshi18/pseuds/YukiTenshi18
Summary: ////SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME AHEAD! TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM YET!!!!////If the World has funny way of falling into place then the Universe is a running joke that hasn't reached the punchline yet.Peter wasn't coping, he was barely existing but he didn't have a choice because the world had lost its best defender and he couldn't let his own pain keep him from saving the little guy. He would push forward no matter what





	1. Unconventional Possibilities

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally my first fan-fiction ever. I just couldn't cope with what was happening, so I decided to divide it. I will accept the MCU for what it is but in this world I plan to slowly live out another option to what could take place. 
> 
> It's rough and I don't have a beta so I apologize for the errors you might come across but I hope you at least find some pleasure in reading this.
> 
> Also most any science or tech facts are purely from my imagination. Not to be taken seriously. 
> 
> Again I am writing this for my own mental healing, I just decided to share it with others in the same head space.

“And I….am Ironman.” His fingers snapped and the pain that coursed through his veins could not be measured. Burning hot to the point he began to feel numb, but as the world around him went silent he knew it had worked. The Wizard had been right the whole time, there had been no other way.

He could hear a dull buzz in the back of his brain as he stumbled a moment before collapsing against a pile of rubble completely.

Rhodey. He saw the years between them come together in a single beat of his dying heart. He saw the tears, the smile of someone letting go. He had no strength, no words that he could reach to offer a goodbye.

“We won Mr. Stark. We won Mr. Stark. You did it Sir. You did it. I’m...sorry Tony.” A voice cracking as it spoke, hands pulling at him gently. The kid. His kid. He’d done it, the whole reason he started on this crazy journey of time travel, he’d brought him back and now he had to leave him. He felt him being pulled away more than he saw it happen, as the world was suddenly becoming dimmer. Hazy around the edges.

But he saw her. He felt her. “Pep…” his voice he wasn’t sure even made it to her. He heard her ask friday about his vitals, he already knew without hearing it.

“Tony look at me.” He felt his face being pulled and he used every last ounce of what he had left to look at her, to take her hand in his as he relished in the fact that her face would be the last one he would see before his light went out.

“We’re ok. You can Rest.” Her usually strong voice now wavered as she spoke those final words.

He had hoped to pull off one final miracle, to surprise them all but that was a fading thought as he felt his mind wander someplace much further away from their reach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_Six Months Later…_

 

Peter found himself often stopping by here on patrol, where Mr. Stark had taken his suit away so very long ago it seemed. While it had only been six months it felt as if it were yesterday when he had lost one of the most important people in his life. In truth he was tired, so tired of saying goodbye to the ones he loved most. His parents. Ben. Now it was Mr.Stark. His mentor and friend, someone who had him start down a path of being a better version of himself. Without him though he felt lost, as though that path had been uprooted and he was now tripping with every step he took.

_“And I wanted you to be better.”_

He slammed his fist against the concrete. “How am I supposed to be better if you aren’t here to help me learn!?”

He was so angry, they told him everything that had happened. About BlackWidow sacrificing herself for the soul stone, how they had done it. How the whole reason Tony had helped was because of….him.

He was the reason Morgan lost her father, why Pepper now had to sleep alone at night. It was his fault.

He knew deep down that was a ridiculous thought because they had done it to save billions of lives at the cost of two, but one of those lives had been the world to him.

He gripped his fist all the tighter, blood pounding behind his eyes to the point he could almost see red.

“Peter, your heart rate has increased suddenly, are you ok?” Karen asked, always sounding more human than she should.

His fist loosened and he let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding. “I’m Fine Karen, just tired.” His eyes scanned the water, the boats on it and the vastness beyond that. “Karen, I wish there was a way to bring just one person back. It’s so unfair that they found a way to bring back half the universe but we can’t save one person.”

There was a long moment of silence before the A.I. spoke to him again. “Peter, my knowledge is limited on some things but I do not see how it is completely out of the realm of possibility to bring Mr. Stark back. Though perhaps not in the conventional manner.” Her voice was soft but sounded confident as it could.

He blinked a few times. “What exactly do you mean not conventional?” It was enough to blow him away that she was even offering him an option.

“I have access to most every file that Friday has access to and it would seem that Mr.Stark had downloaded his subconscious to a backup drive. It contains every memory he had up until the last few days, it would seem he used his B.A.R.F technology to make sure each memory was correct and intact.”

His heart was slamming against his ribcage so hard he was fairly certain he might be risking cardiac arrest. “Karen….can we access that drive?”

“One moment.” It went silent for a moment as she was clearly checking on the clearance levels and protection the drive was encrypted with. “Peter, it would appear as though me nor Friday have access to this drive, but if you were to retrieve it from the lab you might have the authority to access it.”

“M-me? If you can’t get to it Karen what on earth makes you think I could hack Mr.Stark’s tech!?” He should have known better than to hope for a way to save him.

“Because Peter, it appears as though Mr.Stark left it to you specifically.” Her voice somehow seemed softer when she said that.

Every inch of him froze, the mask suddenly felt like it was suffocating him. “....Why?” He croaked out, voice shaking with to many feelings.

“I’m afraid I don’t know the reason for that Peter. I just know there is a file sitting in Mr. Stark’s lab that could quite possibly be the key to bringing him back in some way or another.”

For a moment everything inside him fell apart, the pressure was overwhelming him. Mr.Stark had left behind a way to save him but he’d left it up to Peter. He was only sixteen, he hadn’t even been able to properly build his own suit.

His breathing became erratic as the panic began to consume him. What if he let Mr.Stark down? Ho was he supposed to…

“Pardon me Peter if you don’t mind my saying but, Mr. Stark clearly trusted you with this. Perhaps….you should trust yourself?”

Those words, so like something she would say. Mr.Stark had figured out time travel to save him. Surely he could do this. He would do this.

“Karen, let’s get to the lab. We are bringing him back.” He said, a fierce confidence ringing in his words.

“Yes Peter.” She hummed happily.

He shot his webs and took off swinging back to the lab.


	2. A new Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you have to walk the path laid out before you, no matter how terrifying it may be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad some of you seemed to enjoy this so far, as I said before I don't write Fan Fiction but this has helped me a lot. It's allowed me to get a grip on my feelings due to the movie.
> 
> So here is chapter 2. I'm just sort of taking it one step at a time but I definitely hope to continue on and do more with this as time goes on.
> 
> Ps. Still no beta so it's a rough bit of work, enjoy nonetheless!!

It wasn’t easy walking into the lab, not because of security reasons. No he still had full access to do as he pleased, what was hard was walking in and seeing a world that used to be so full of fire was now cold and dark. “F-Friday?” He called out, hoping the A.I. was still active, unsure of if when Karen had been in touch with her earlier if it had been accessible here yet.

“Hello Peter, it’s good to see you in the lab again.” Her voice filled the quiet lab, sounding almost relieved at his presence.

“Yea sorry it took me awhile to find my way back.” He walked around slowly, his gloved fingers tracing over the tables. Flitting across old papers and eventually stopped at the desk he had last occupied.

It had been days before…...it.

Mr.Stark had let him come over to talk about upgrades to the suit since he had turned down being an avenger, it wasn’t always smooth sailing but they had just started finding a balance. Still though…

“I shouldn't have meant that much to you. You should not have left your wife and kid.” He felt the heat of tears behind his eyes once more. God, he was still such a child. Being dead five years had really stunted any headway he’d made at maturing.

“Karen, where the heck is that memory drive?” He had to do this, he would save Tony for the sake of his family and then he would never see the genius again. He couldn't be a part of this man’s life if it meant he was willing to throw it down the drain for his stupid self.

“The drive is located in Mr.Stark’s desk Peter, along with what appears to be some additional information for you.” She paused a moment, her circuits almost vibrating as she seemed to be processing. “Peter, it would seem as though Mr.Stark had an ally in creating his memory drive, someone left in charge of making sure you had help in this endeavor.”

Peter could feel his face shift into an expression of shock. “Who? Dr.Banner? Fury?!” His senses felt like they were going haywire, his brain in overdrive has he attempted to understand all of what was happening.

“No Peter, he wanted this kept low profile and away from S.H.I.E.L.D, the one he left his plan too was the Princess of Wakanda, Shuri.”

“The Princess!? Why not Black Panther himself?” He rolled his eyes as he made his way to Mr. Stark’s desk. It still had his notes, well scribbles, strewn about it. An empty mug near the corner. He knew that once Mr.Stark had recovered from Titan that he had built a house on the lake for him and his family, so why was the drive here? He clearly hadn’t made it here, so why?

“Peter. I have a message stored in my logs for you from Mr.Stark from when he was here last, it was only to be played if you came here yourself. Shall I play it for you now?” Friday asked, her Irish lilt soft and kind.

The breath he took froze in his throat, his heart now pounding very painfully against his ribcage. “He left me a message?”

“Yes Peter, it’s a Holo message so it is similar to the one he left for his family.”

“P-play it Friday.” He stumbled back a few steps as the lab lit up in a soft blue hue as there suddenly he stood in all his glory. He had his signature sunglasses on, but his clothing was tired. Rumbled sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

_ “Hey kid.”  _

Peter whimpered. He pulled his mask off without hesitation and just collapsed, head in his hands as he felt the tears rush free.

_ The hologram was silent for a long moment before it spoke again. “Look I know this has gotta be hard for you, I’m sure you think I really screwed the pooch with whatever I did to get us here.” _

He actually laughed, a wet broken one, but a laugh nonetheless at the phrase Mr.Stark had used on him so long ago. “Mr. Stark…”

_ “Look Kid, I gotta tell you this isn’t how I wanted things to end up. I really didn’t. I wanted to be there to see you and Morgan meet, to show you everything you had….” The holo paused, he took of his glasses and even in the blue of it his eyes almost seemed red. “I messed up. I lost you Pete and I suddenly had this chance to get you back.” He laughed, a scoff really. “I’m not a hero, I’m selfish. I wanted the best of both worlds you see. A world where I had my new family and the one I had lost.” _

“But you aren’t here for us now. Any of us. That’s my fault Sir.” As if somehow talking to a recording would somehow make any sort of a difference.

_ “Pete look, I left something behind as you well know by this point. I didn’t tell anyone aside from Ms.Sassypants in Wakanda because I don’t think anyone would see it the way I do.” He pinched the bridge of his nose before looking right where Peter sat. Determination flaring in his eyes. “I’m not ready to give it all up, no matter what reasons I had and I’m sure they were well worth it. I wasn’t ready. So I leave this to you. My legacy, do with it what you will Peter.” He reached forward, clearly the recording was about to be shut off but he glanced up once more. “I’m proud of you kid.” _

It blipped out of existence once more.

Peter was shell shocked by this sudden revelation. Mr.Stark had known everyone else would let him rest, that they would say to let him be at peace. But he had also known Peter just couldn’t leave things alone. Still...he wanted him to have some peace.

So if he did this it had to be done right. He would do whatever it took, then he would be the hero Mr.Stark needed him to be so he wouldn’t have to save the word anymore.

He stood up, putting his mask back on as he rounded the desk once more. He opened the top drawer and sure enough in a slick black jewelry box was the drive. He picked it up, as though it were the single most fragile thing on this world. 

Because to him it was.

“Karen, how do I get in contact with Shuri?” His voice still shook just a bit. To many emotions still flowed wildly through him, but he had a path again. And he didn’t plan on tripping.


	3. What I want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just have to be selfish, he plans to do whatever it takes.
> 
> Peter makes up his mind and there is no going back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been stuck at home all day with Tornado weather and heavy rain so it seemed like a good day for writing, and I'm actually enjoying writing this so far. I'm sure it will have its fair share of critics but that's ok. It's not meant to be a perfect story, I know I will make mistakes lol.
> 
> Anyways please continue to enjoy, I know I enjoy writing it!!

As it turned out Friday had protocols set up to contact Shuri as soon as Peter made a definitive choice in what he needed to do. So as of now Peter found himself talking to her Highness via a form of Holograph communication.

Peter found himself both in awe of her and very curious has to what part she could have played when he had been under the impression that she had been one of those billions that Thanos had snapped out of existence.

“So you are this oh so wonderful Spider-baby I heard so much about.” Her accent hummed in her words as she looked him over, she had her hair up in a pair of buns, purple tank top and some khakis. Very casual.

“Uh um...it’s Spider-man, your highness.” He scratched the back of his neck, feeling more awkward than when he’d asked Liz out.

“Please, you are little more than a child.” She said something under her breath that he couldn’t quite make out. “Listen Spider-child, your Tony Stark left me something of great value that he made me swear to guard. Not even my brother knows what is in my possession. Yet he expects me to work with the smallest Avenger?”

“Listen, until today I had no idea any of this was even in the realm of possibility. All I know is Mr.Stark left this chance, this one small seed of hope in my hands and he left it to you as well.” He clenched his fist even tighter. “He gave up….everything for us. So I need you to level with me right now Shuri.” He flinched inwardly at his own bravado in using her name so bluntly.

“Can we bring him back?”

She fell silent, muling over what it was he was asking of her. “Peter you have to know I was dusted as well. Tony and I never spoke in person about this plan of his.” She sighed and rubbed her temple. “The message was delivered to me the moment I returned home, I do not even know how he got it to me.” She felt her lips tug into the beginnings of a small smile though. “But your genius had faith in me. In his plan.” It was so easy to see the boy struggling, he was not much younger than herself in years.

“And he had that same faith in you Peter. So I will say this now and what you choose to do with it then I shall offer my unyielding assistance.” She moved her screen out further to reveal a large tube filled with a murky gray liquid, within in the muck the outline of a body was just barely visible.

“I had nothing to do with the creation of his memory files. But I have played a part since then. I have the other half of what it is you need to make Mr.Stark whole once more.

We can save him Peter.”

His heart stopped, he could see it, the form of his once mentor floating in the depth of that liquid. He brought the back of his hand up, pressing it against his lips as he stifled a sob. “M-Mr.Stark.”

“His body was destroyed Peter. This is a far more advanced version of Vision I suppose you could say, rendered to look like Tony. This would be as close to a human form that he would ever be capable of having again.” She had never met Tony herself, but the message he left behind was moving. The files he had sent were outstanding, if she were a betting woman she would have placed money on this being his golden egg. An achievement even she was forced to acknowledge. 

“Is this what you want? What you think he would want?”

He thought back to everything he knew about Mr.Stark, about how tired he had seemed as he lay there with the light fading from his eyes. How Pepper how told them they would be ok and that he could rest. But he wasn’t ok, not even a little. He looked back to the woman before him, she was someone Mr.Stark had thought to put his trust in without ever having spoken to her and he knew why. He trusted the younger generation, just like he had trusted Peter. 

“It’s what I want Shuri. He trusted us, you whom he never even met. He made sure you would know to help him and have the resources to do so. I have to believe that it’s not just my own selfish desire. I have to...HAVE to believe he wants to come back to us as well.”

“I do think you might be right about that….Spider-man.” She said with a sly smile.

He returned it with his own triumphant grin. “So how do we do this then?”

“Ah yes well you see you will need to bring that memory drive to me in Wakanda. I cannot leave given certain circumstances at this time.” Her nation was still recovering from the most recent events that had taken place.

“Me? Come to Wakanda?” How had only been out of the country once before when he’d….when he’d gone to Germany with Mr.Stark. “How would I even get there? Planes don’t exactly fly that way.”

“You are very much a silly american boy.” Her comment filled a sarcastic sort of amusement. “I will send for you, for now I have a few other pressing matters to attend to but it should not take more than a few days. Guard the drive until then Parker.”

It was hard not to feel discouraged at having to wait but he understood. She had to have a lot on her shoulders, she had come back from the dusting, fought a war and returned home to find that the man that had saved the universe also left her a mission of her own. On top of having to help re-stabilize her country. “Ok, I’ll be waiting Shuri. Thank you.”

She gave him a small nod before the communication was disconnected, once more leaving Peter alone in a lab full of memories.

He let out a small huff and glanced around once more. “Friday, why did T-Mr.Stark leave the drive here for me rather than his home?”

“He did not tell me Peter.” There was a moment of hesitation before she continued. “But I do believe the Boss wanted to leave it where he had felt closest to you.”

“Oh…” This was one of the few places that he had gotten the chance to interact with  Mr.Stark outside of any kind of battle. It was here they had talked, learned about each other a little more.

“Thank you Friday.”

“You are welcome Peter.” Her voice was always soft when speaking to Peter, tender almost.

“Ok well I gotta get home. May has gotta be worried and I still have Spanish homework.” Luckily it had been easy to throw himself back into school. Ned and MJ had both been dusted as well so he still had two familiar faces to interact with as he readjusted to the world around him. 

He cast one final glance around the lab before he headed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for viewing this chapter, I greatly appreciate the kudos and views. It makes me happy it was at least worth a look-see.


	4. It will work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter fights his self doubt in order to hold onto the hope that they can in fact reunite Mr.Stark with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have chapter four. It's getting intense for me to write guys, I keep seeing it play out in my head and a small part wishes we could have had anything like this for Tony himself. 
> 
> But for now I'll survive the pain through imagination.

_ Three Days later… _

 

Peter had nearly worn away the edge of this thumbnails from how much he had been chewing at it. It had been three days since he had talked to Shuri and since then it had been radio silence. The only reason he knew it hadn’t all been a dream was the memory drive that he had in his pocket, something he kept on him at all times.

He startled when he felt something jab him in the shoulder, pulling his hand away from his face he looked back at Ned who as always had a mix of concern and anticipation on his face. “You ok Peter?”

“Yea man I’m good. Just got lost in the thought I guess.” He gave what he hoped was a convincing smile. “Sometimes school just doesn’t feel real I guess.”

His friend nodded as though he understood completely, which in all fairness he did for the most part, but he still had no idea half of what Peter had been through.

“Yea I get that but hey at least some of class came back with us so it’s not super weird.” He had been super happy to see he and Betty were still the same age, not so much about Flash who was still a bully despite having died with the rest of them.

“For real, it would have sucked to be the only two dusty kids in here.” Peter said, smirking as he turned back around only to lock eyes with Flash himself. He groaned inwardly. He had gone to an alien planet, fought the mad Titan himself and even died then come back. He would still rather face it all again than deal with Flash and his constant need to torment him.

Flash smirked at him, it was not friendly or joking in any way. “Poor little Penis Parker still whining to his boyfriend about being dusted?” He rolled his eyes. “Get over it, its been six months. A lot of us dealt with it. You should be grateful for what Tony Stark did for us. Instead you are moping around like a kicked puppy.”

Peter didn’t do rage, he didn’t lose his temper for stupid reasons if he could help it. Right now, he couldn’t help it. “Flash back off for once in your life.” He all but growled the words out. He was walking a fine line with the fire those words had ignited inside him.

Flash snorted at the remark. “Yea right Penis, I give you credit for bucking up but we both know you won’t do anything. You don’t have it in you.”

Peter was standing, aware of Ned grabbing at the back of his shirt as his desk slid from the sudden movement. He brought up his clenched fist as other students gasped, but he never made it past that point as the classroom door swung open and there stood two warriors from Wakanda, full garb an all. 

He froze.

The one closest to him looked at him from across the room. “Peter Parker, we have been sent to escort you back to Wakanda at her Highness Shuri’s request.”

The world around Peter faded. He didn’t hear Ned whispering excitedly behind him, nor did he process the stunned expressions of his classmates. He couldn’t even take joy at the look plastered across Flash’s face right now. All he knew is he was going to Wakanda, which meant he was going to save Mr.Stark.

He didn’t explain himself, he didn’t ask permission. He grabbed his bag and glanced once at Ned, his eyes full of questions. Then he turned and left, leaving them all unanswered for the time being.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_ Wakanda _

 

When they landed Peter followed in silence as the warriors led him off the ship. He could tell they hadn’t landed in a commonly used base, there were almost no people around and even less equipment located on the outside.

He kept his head down and didn’t ask questions until they led him deep inside then left him in a small darkened lab. He glanced around for a moment before he saw it. The tube.

His throat tightened as he walked over and looked at the perfect replica of Mr. Starks body. It looked nothing like Vision, it looked so human.

“It will not get sick and nor will it tire easily. It has human bodily functions aside from being able to reproduce. It eats, goes to the bathroom and even sweats. It’s cellular design is programmed to age but it will never suffer from loss of mental functions.” Shuri said as she came to stand beside him.

“It’s so human Shuri, how did you do this?” he was in awe of how incredible this was.

“I didn’t do it alone Peter. Tony had very specific designs for this because he wanted to be able to have a normal life with his family. He had no desire to come back better, he simply wanted to come back as himself. He can even bleed and scar.” She paused a moment, her eyes sliding to glance at the boy standing beside her now. “And he can die as well.”

He started at that comment, finally tearing his eyes away from the sight before him to look at Shuri. “You mean he can die of old age right?” Of course, so he could live his life out with Pepper.

“Yes, he can die in that sense but I also mean he can die like any man.” She walked closer to stand next to the tube. “If Mr. Stark were to once more take up the mantle of Ironman then he would be risking his life just as any hero would.” She saw the way he wilted slightly at the realization of what her words meant. “This design is of course stronger than any natural born human but for all intensive purposes this android, is very fragile. Very human. As per his wishes.”

Peter felt like he had just been punched straight in the gut. He had been so focused on bring back his mentor he hadn’t thought about what it might mean. He had told himself before though that he would be enough of a hero so the wouldn’t need Ironman anymore. “Shuri he won’t ever need to be Ironman so it will be fine. Either way this gives him a second chance with Pepper and Morgan. He needs them and they need him.”

Her mouth formed into a small frown at his words. “You as well correct Peter? You need him as well, he would want to have this chance with him as well would he not?”

He felt a cold knot form in his chest. “He gave up his life with his family for me. I know he had his reasons, he felt responsible for me but he has a family. I want to bring them back together and then I want to make sure they stay together.” He looked her in the eye, offering a sad smile. “Even if that means being alone.”

Her heart truly ached for the boy, he clearly cared a great deal for Tony Stark and yet he had this notion that none of this was for him to be reunited with him, that was a sad fact indeed. “Peter I will not argue with you about this, but I must say I do not think it was simply because he felt responsible for you.”

“It…..it doesn’t matter.” He swiped at his eyes once, refusing to cry when they were so close to bringing him back. “So how do we do this?”

“Honestly the only missing piece as of now is the core function.” She motioned to him. “The memory drive. You do have it don’t you?”

He nodded before fumbling to get it out of his pocket. “Yea I have it here.” He held it out to her.

She took it with and amused shake of her head before walking past him to a small console. “If this works then what should happen is the memories should download directly into his cortex. Then we have to take him out of his stasis and well...wake him up.”

She opened the drive and slid it into a small opening at the base of the console, a digital screen appeared and she began reading, typing occasionally as her brow furrowed. 

“What’s wrong? Did I break it?” Peter asked, feeling suddenly panicked that he had possibly screwed their one chance up.

“Hush Peter, no it is not broken.” She stood with a sigh. “It won’t allow me to access it without a voice activated password. It would seem Stark was being very careful in his little project.” She said and stepped aside, looking at him expectantly.

He blinked a few times and looked from her to the console and back to her. “I don’t know the password! I told you I wasn’t told about any of this until….Karen!” He dropped his backpack and pulled out his mask, slipping it on as fast as he could. “Karen?”

“Yes Peter, how may I help you?”

“Karen do you or Friday have any idea what the password might be to access Mr.Starks memory file?” He prayed they knew something, anything.

“I do no Peter but please let me contact Friday.” She hummed and went silent as she touched base with Friday before speaking once more. “Friday said the only information Boss left in regards to a password is simply stating that it is something you would never call him.”

Confusion wormed its way through his brain. “Something I wouldn’t…?” He thought long and hard. What would he never call Mr.Stark? Then is lit up in his brain like fireworks. He opened his eyes as he stepped up to the console. He cleared his throat once but it did nothing to ease the sudden tightness there. Then he spoe, something he never dared say before.

“Hey Tony.” He said in a whisper.

Then the console lit up a wild blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys! I hope you have enjoyed your read once more. Sorry for the errors.


	5. To see you again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you say hello and goodbye all in one breath?
> 
> Peter knows what bringing back Mr.Stark means to him, but he knows it means even more to others. 
> 
> He won't let them lose him again.
> 
> Whatever it takes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was harder to write, I had to think of it from Peter's point of view with his determination. He takes on the world all on his own to protect people.
> 
> But I hope you guys enjoy it and keep reading along, I know there are a lot of feels in this chapter so hope you don't hate me to much.

The download took a total of six hours to complete, in that time he and Shuri talked a lot. They both were kind of misfits, but the difference being is that it worked for Shuri while for Peter it made day to day life far more tedious.

The cool thing was once they got to know each other they actually seemed to get along, they had a similar sense of humor and were both more than qualified to be science geeks together. 

However as soon as the console made a small sound indicating the download was complete they both just sort of stared at each other.

“Well, I guess that just leaves the final phase.” Shuri stood, brushing her palms free of any dirt they had collected. “Are you ready Peter?”

He looked down, eyes focused on a small crack in the floor, he kept his breathing even as a wave of panic seemed to overtake him. “Just do it.” He said, voice barely above a whisper.

She nodded, saying nothing as she proceeded to flush the tank as it slowly rotated into a horizontal position. Once it was empty of all remaining fluid she opened the tank, she looked over the body slowly. Attaching wires where she needed to in order to both wake him up and monitor him. 

As of now the basic functions were intact, a steady heartbeat. Lung functions were normal. Normal blood pressure. All was exactly as it needed to be, so she cast one last look at Peter who was visibly paler and seemed to be fighting the constant tremble of his body.

“Before I do this Peter this is our last chance to back out. What we are doing right now, no matter what his wishes might have been we do not know what his final thoughts were and…” She looked back at what she knew was one step too far. “What we are doing is playing god.”

She was a scientist yes, but her people had a strong faith. She knew of the realm beyond this and they were now walking a very fine line, even if this wasn’t technically raising the dead.

He walked closer, eyes wandering over Mr.Stark’s new body. Watched as his chest rose steadily with each breath. He thought of those lifeless eyes, of how they hadn’t even seen him. For a moment doubt ran through him, this was wrong. It wasn’t even the man they were bringing back. Just a hard copy.

But then the image of how his mentor had looked at his wife, the struggle to hold on just a little longer. How he had found the strength to say her name one last time.

He looked over to Shuri, his body free from the earlier tremors.

She nodded in return, words not needed when she could so easily see the answer in his eyes.

She initiated the wake up phase. The small probes she had attached along his body would send a steady current throughout his body and into his brain to prod him into waking up as naturally as possible given the circumstances.

It took a few minutes for anything to really happen, but slowly Mr.Stark began to show signs of consciousness. His eyelids fluttered, he swallowed a few times as his body fought to wake up. He began to twitch his fingers, before his hand slowly raised to press to his temple, he let out a groan.

Without even realizing it Peter had slowly began to step backwards, away from Mr.Stark, he was so close to having him back but he knew it was bound to hurt all over. This one moment was all he would allow himself, before he made sure that Ironman would never have to fight again.

Shuri leaned over Tony, clipboard in hand as she took notes. “Mr.Stark can you hear me?”

He groaned again, eyelids slowly opening just a hair. “Jesus christ I feel like I was run over by a truck. How drunk was I….” His eyes snapped open, a sudden awareness spreading through him as he realized who was standing before him. “What happened?!”

He tried to jerk into an upright position but his body wouldn’t let him, he felt the Princess put a hand on his chest to keep him from trying again.

“I need you to remain calm Mr.Stark, I am still running tests.” She looked him over, using a small device to scan him. “You should be able to move soon, but give your body time to adjust first please.”

The anxiety was starting to kick in as he tried to comprehend what was happening. The last thing he remembered was making the memory drive, sending it here to Shuri. He remember saying goodnight to Morgan, crawling in bed with Pepper. “Shuri….what am I doing here?”

Her brow rose slightly, she seemed to glance back at something before nodding slightly. “Mt.Stark we both know why it is you are here.”

His heart began to race, pounding in fear as to what this meant. “No…”

“You died Mr.Stark.” She smiled softly. “But I need you to think about what you being here means exactly.”

His brain was trying to play catch up. It meant he had died, that’s what it meant. He had died and now he isn't himself anymore because that was the plan. That if he died that Shuri and…. “Peter….” His voice grave.

He forced his body to move, to sit up enough to rest on one arm as he looked past Shuri. 

The kid was right there, standing further away than he should have been. Eyes red rimmed and tears streaming down his face. He was covering his mouth to fight back the small sobs trying to escape.

Tony felt a rush of emotion swell in his chest, the kid was back. His kid. “Kid….you came back.” 

For that moment nothing else mattered. It didn’t even phase him that he had to die for this moment because right now he felt like he had won at life.

“What are you waiting for Underoos, c’mere so I can see that baby face of yours.” The words were hard to say around the lump in his throat.

Peter didn’t move though, not even an inch as the pain inside his chest felt like it might burst free. He looked at Shuri, saw the wave of sadness wash over her eyes as he finally stepped back once more. “I can’t…” his voice was raw with pain, sounding every bit like the scared kid he was.

Tony’s brows knitted as he stared at Peter. “Peter come here. It’s still me. I know this had to be a lot for you kid.” He sighed, thinking this was all because Pete was feeling overwhelmed. “I don’t know what happened for us to get here aside from my untimely demise but kid I promise it’s me in here.” He said, tapping at his temple lightly. “All one hundred percent the invinsibe Iron-!” He was startled when Peter slammed his fist against the wall.

“No!” He trembled, eyes looking right at Mr.Stark. “You aren’t Ironman anymore.” He had to fight back the sick feeling rising up. “Ironman died. You live. You live as Tony Stark.” He saw the look of shock from hearing him say his first name.

“You live with Pepper. You raise Morgan. You be Tony Stark.” He closed his eyes, trying to get a grip on what he needed to say. “You be him without being Ironman. You saved us already and now….you get to live.” He finally smiled, as hard as it was to do.

“Just do it without Spider-man.”

And with that he took off, not even turning back as he heard Mr.Stark’s desperate pleas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me so far everyone! I have very much enjoyed this journey so far. I don't know where it might end, for now I'm just letting that creative flow take me where it wills.


	6. Welcome Back?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can't always face the world alone, no matter how much you have convinced yourself that you should.
> 
> Peter will just have to learn that the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This Chapter is just a hair longer, I couldn't find a good stopping point and I was getting really excited. 
> 
> It's getting intense as things slowly start to fall into play, but don't worry I still have plenty up my sleeve.
> 
> Enjoy the update guys!!

Tony began to struggle, trying to push his body upright. He needed to go after Peter, but his limbs were a tangled mess of uselessness.

“Mr.Stark you still need time, as does Peter.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes full of teenage mirth. “You forget, we are in Wakanda, he has no way to just run away right now.

He looked at the girl then back to where Peter had run off. “What has gotten into that kid? I know I’m not….me...but I’m still Tony Stark right?” His brain slid deeper into the muddle. He had it all figured out before, when he had derived this plan out of a desperate need to make sure he kept his family. But some part of him had truly hoped it would never come to this.

“How….how did it happen?”

She hesitated only a moment on which to answer first, choosing the question she had a definite response to.

“I’ll do my best to explain all that has taken place during the time frame of your memory gap Tony, but keep in mind not all of it is pleasant.” She said lightly, knowing some of this would be difficult.

She didn’t have every nanobyte of information but she was able to explain it well enough. Of how they had succeeded at the cost of the Black Widow, how the other Nebula had tricked them. She explained of Steve being worthy which caused him to roll his eyes. Of how despite their best efforts Thanos had gotten hold of the glove once more, and how Ironman had tricked the mad Titan. How he had wielded the Infinity Stones to snap their enemy out of existence.

She spoke of how he had saved them all at the cost of his own life. Of how Steve had chosen a new path for himself. 

He was quiet for a long time as he tried to soak it up, it was a lot for his brain to take in at once. “Pepper told me I could rest huh?” So like her, to be strong until the very end. Suddenly all he wanted to do was see Pep and hold his baby girl. His family, it made heat well up behind his eyes which in turned caused him to let out a startled laugh.

“You did a fine job on this shell of mine, it’s damn near human.” He was almost human. But was he Tony Stark or was he a copy?

“Stark, you should know this body is what you asked for down to every last spec. You eat, sleep and desire. You age and you weep. You will grow old, aside from being mildly stronger than the average human which let’s be honest you have proved to be so in the other body as well, you are capable of getting hurt and…” She let her thought drift, thinking back to how badly that seemed to frighten Peter. It was suddenly becoming clear to her why he had reacted in such a manner when Stark had woken up.

“And? Spit it out k-Shuri. Not getting any younger here.” He said, brow raised as he slowly pushed himself into a completely upright position. Happy to be able to sit on his own so soon.

“It’s just that I think I know why Peter may have behaved the way he did.” She walked further away from the man before turning back to look at him, holding one hand up in a semi-shrug. “I think it’s possible he feels responsible for you dying. You only took a chance on time travel to save him, or so I was told.”

“He was very agitated when I told him your new body would be able to get hurt, especially if you were to take back up the mantle of Ironman.” She rolled her eyes and tossed her hands up into the air. “You stupid american men, if my theory is correct he means to take on a larger role as a hero in order to keep you from returning to the battlefield.”

He felt his heart stutter, which was odd in itself considering it had been bio genetically engineered, regardless the thought or Peter out there fighting alone was enough to make it skip a beat. “He is being ridiculous. He’s a kid, he can’t fight alone out there.”

She just shrugged. “I think right now you have much bigger things to worry about, such as how you intend to tell the world you just came back from the dead.”

“Right. Hadn’t really thought about that I guess.” And he didn’t plan on letting the world know Peter and Shuri had helped lest they end up in the wrong kind of spotlight. “I suppose we will go with me having had a back up plan and some help that would currently be unidentified.” He grinned a little. “I mean I’m Tony Stark after all, was I really going to stay dead?”

She snorted. “I have never seen such an ego before.” She ran over a few more numbers on her tablet before she walked over and began to disconnect the probes. “Let’s get you cleaned up and into some clothing before we decide how to handle your resurrection.”

He nodded his agreement, looking once more towards where he had last seen Peter. He had a lot to figure out and this was not how he had planned his reunion with kid to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter found himself wandering around an open field in the middle of Wakanda just because he was a little kid and had a full mental break not even a full sixty seconds of Mr.Stark having been awake. He kicked a rock, he knew he would have to face him eventually if nothing else so he could go back home.

“Peter? Peter is that you?” A voice called out to him.

Alarm surged through him as he whirled around to find Bucky Barnes walking towards him, having met only twice. In Germany and at Mr.Stark’s funeral. “H-hey Mr.Barnes Sir.”

The weary soldier tilted his head. His hair was pulled back with strands still falling in his face, and only mild stubble shadowed his jaw. “Kid you are a long way from Queens, how the hell did you wind up here?”

His heart picked up the pace as he searched his mind for any reason. “I uh...I….Shuri! She is around my age and they thought it might do us some good two talk since we were both their for the battles and the dusting.” Hey, not bad Parker!

Bucky seemed wary of the answer as he moved closer to the boy, until there was only about a foot between them. “So then why are you out here wandering around? Even Wakanda still has its dangers kid.”

He felt a sudden pain shoot through him at the term. “Yea I just needed some air, it’s not like I can’t take care of myself you know?” He wiggled his wrist to show off his web shooters. “Trust me, I’m golden.”

“I get you have powers, you stopped my arm back in Germany. You fought Thanos and held your own but you are still just a kid and a very long ways from home.” His eyes narrowed. “It means you have to be smart about where you go running off too.”

He hated this, Mr.Barnes acted way to much like Mr.Stark for him to be ok with it. “Yea ok sorry. I’ll watch myself a little better. Can I go now?”

“You know, how about instead we go speak to T’challa?” He glanced back towards the city. “I think we need to clear some things up first.”

Peter’s eyes went wide, his mouth half open as if to protest before finally letting his hands drop to his sides in defeat. “Yea uh...sure.”

“Mhm.” Bucky started walking, content when he heard Peter following behind.

They didn’t speak for the long walk back, not even as they entered the Great Hall, seeking out T’challa who was just finishing up some meetings with the World Leaders. He paused as he saw Bucky with the young Spider in tow. “Mr.Barnes, to what do I owe the honor of such a visit?” he gestured towards Peter.

“About that, kid says you guys set it up for him and Shuri to meet up and chat about the whole being dusted thing.” He glanced at the kid who looked visibly nervous. “I trust he is a good kid, but he is young and I don’t want him making some dumb mistake.”

“I see.” He held up his hand to activate his communicator, a small holo of Shuri appeared.

“Brother, what is it you need? I have important research to handle right now.” Her voice laced with irritation.

“Shuri I just had a brief inquiry for you, when was it that we set up a playdate for you and the spiderling?” He asked in mock amusement, though he saw her startled look and then he could hear something falling wherever she was. He saw her eyes narrow as though looking at something before she looked back to him.

“It’s not a playdate brother. Spider-Man is very interesting. I did not get the chance to earn very much about him during all of the chaos so I suggested he come here. I did not force him.” She gave him one of her haughty little smiles.

“I see, so it just slipped your mind as to inform your King of such arrangements?” He asked with a polite smile, looking back to Barnes and Peter.

“I saw no reason to bother you with such trivial information. He is my guest and I shall look after him.” She now avoided looking at him in the eye. 

“You intend to look after him while he is out roaming the wilds for Mr.Barnes to find him?” He asked, clearly putting her on the spot.

What he did not expect was someone yelling in the background before clearly knocking something else over, or Shuri’s look of panic. 

“I will explain later Brother, I have a matter to attend to.” She looked grim a moment as she looked at him. “Perhaps keep Peter with you until I fetch him?”

“Shuri...I shall leave him with Mr.Barnes for now, they may remain here though. You should get here sooner rather than later I suggest though.” He raised his arm to terminate communications, ignoring her attempt to argue.

He looked back to Mr.Barnes who looked more than a little skeptical about the situation. “Barnes would you be terribly put out in looking after young Parker until my sister arrives back home so we can get this sorted?”

“It’s no trouble, he and I can just walk around to have a look see at the palace and what not.” He nudged the boy lightly, for a response.

Peter jerked his head up, giving a nervous sort of laugh. “Yes Your Highness! Sorry for any trouble I might have been so far, can I make it up somehow?”

T’challa eyed the boy for a moment before giving him a considerate smile. “No Peter, you are fine. Just go with Mr.Barnes for the time being while I wrap up a few things here. I’ll meet you both in the dining hall in about fifteen minutes.” His tone gave the indication of being dismissed.

Peter nodded, watching the King walk away for a moment before turning back to Bucky. “Mr.Barnes couldn’t you have just let me be?”

“No can do kid, I have no doubt you are don’t have a wicked bone in your body but that doesn’t mean you aren’t hiding something.” He jerked his head towards a hall. “Let’s go ahead now, we can gawk and gander as we make our way to some chow ok?”

All Peter could do was nod and follow along like a little kid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T’challa was running a little late but sure enough he found Barnes and the boy in the dining hall roughly half an hour later. The two of them were seated at one of the smaller tables, the boy sipping on some water. “I apologize for the delay, though it seems my sister has yet to make her appearance.”

Bucky gave a loose wave. “I don’t think you need to apologize, we are the ones that showed up unannounced, right Petey?”

He scoffed at the nickname though he wasn’t feeling much up to any kind of banter. He hadn’t eaten in several hours and all the stress had him over exerted. His stupid metabolism was a real inconvenience some days.

Still he stood, albeit a bit wobbly, to face T’challa. “Your Majesty.” He almost bowed, but a wave of dizziness hit him and he lurched forward.

“Shit kid!” Bucky reached out to steady him, grabbing a bit rougher than he meant to by the arm as he eased the kid to his knees.

T’challa moved to help, but that was when the doors swung open.

“Hey! Hands of the kid! Now!” 

The voice that erupted in the hall had everyone frozen, no one could move. Even Peter was suddenly hyper aware and just as still.

There in all his glory stood Tony Stark, he was pale and a fine sheen of sweat had broke out across his skin, but his eyes were ablaze as he seemed to take in the sight.

T’challa was unable to understand what it was he was even seeing, he turned to Barnes who had gone ghost white.

Peter gaped for a moment before clearing his throat. “Mr.Stark?”

The genius rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, looking torn between irritation and amusement. 

“Christ kid, I’m back less than an hour and I already have to come to your rescue?” He asked, tenderness wrapped around his words though.

It was those words though, that sent Peter spiraling into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter everyone!
> 
> The comments and kudos have really made me happy! I'm just so glad you guys are enjoying it so far!!


	7. Almost Explanations?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to smooth over, or so it would seem.
> 
> I have a feeling this is just the beginning of a lot of healing.
> 
> Peter and Tony have never had their heart to heart, they haven't had the chance to get to know each other or even understand each other yet amidst all this chaos.
> 
> Will they get the chance finally?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooo! Ch.7!! I'm excited guys.
> 
> So the way I see it is yes Tony cares about Peter and Peter idolizes Mr.Stark but that doesn't mean they quite get each other yet. I don't feel as though they have had much time together, they were just walking the line of forming this bond.
> 
> This is story is just one way I imagine their second chances.
> 
> Expect fluff and tears.

Peter starting coming around to the sound of voices arguing close to him, he kept his eyes shut and his body still as he listened in. He knew one voice instantly.

“Yea sorry gotta say my priority right now is the kid, if you didn’t notice he kinda dropped like a sack of potatoes and as it stands I know him best right now.” Mr.Stark sounded far from amused. “So I’ll be handling his care as of now.”

“With all due respect the child had every reason to faint.” It was T’challa speaking now, his accent smooth. “He just laid witness to the universe’s greatest hero coming back from the dead.” He still sounded skeptical.

“Yea yea keep your spandex on kitty cat.” His voice was sarcastic but you could hear the edge to it. “I’m not some evil clone or anything else. It’s me in the flesh.”

Peter almost laughed at that, the flesh was one way to put it sure.

“Then explain this to me Stark! We all saw you wield the stones, we saw you pass on.” The King sounded remorseful.

“See funny thing about that, don’t actually recall all that saving the universe bit it would seem.” Tony sighed, defeat in his voice as he realized he had to offer some sort of explanation in order to focus on Peter.

“Look anyone who knows me knows I always try to think like ten steps ahead of the other guy. I pride myself on having a plan, even in the inevitable event of my untimely demise.” He held out his arms in a wide sweeping motion as he gestured towards himself. “Back up plan, literally.”

“You mean to tell me you had a plan on how to not die just in case you died?” T’challa had been very close to death once, his soul walking the line when he crossed over just far enough to speak with his father before pulling back. But Stark had been dead, nothing left in the man to fight its way back.

“In a sense yes. I’m a selfish bastard you see and I told Cap from the get go it was about trying to get back what we lost but I had zero intention of giving up what I had gained.” He couldn’t leave Pepper and Morgan behind so easily. He glanced at Peter who they had on a bed in medical, his lips twitching slightly at how the kids brows were scrunched up. He was awake and listening.

“I get the best of both worlds. Keep my family, save the kid. Simple as that.”

“That doesn’t exactly explain the how of all this, how is it you are alive when we cremated your remains?” Surely he had not just poofed himself back into existence.

Tony shook his head just a tiny bit when he saw Shuri step forward. “T’challa, this is not my original body. Consider it the perfected version of Vision.” He shrugged at the King’s look of disbelief. “I had created a hard copy of all my memories thanks to my B.A.R.F tech and from what I had learned in Shuri’s old files she had from helping Barnes and trying to aid Vision before the big whammy went down.” All of which was true. Shuri had no idea he had hacked some of her tech in order to gain the information he’d required.

“This body is as close to human as one could ever hope to create. I made sure the design would allow me to resume my life as though I had never been forced to abandon in.”

Forced. That word his Peter hard, reaffirming his fears that Mr.Stark hadn’t wanted this. He had even said before that he hoped to save the dusted, but not at the cost of losing his new family. It never should have come to this.

He felt his throat constrict tightly and he couldn’t stop the tears from sliding free. He’d lost his parents, Ben and Mr.Stark but now he had to face losing the latter for a third time. 

Tony opened his mouth to further explain but was caught off guard when he saw the trail of tears running down Peter’s face. He pushed past everyone else to get to his kid’s side. Tentatively he reached a hand out to smooth back his hair, all but shaking. This is what made it real for him, touching the kid for the first time since he had vanished before his eyes. “Pete?”

He didn’t want to open his eyes, but he did so anyways. It was a blurry mess as he struggled to focus on Mr.Stark’s face. As he was able to focus he saw the expression of relief mixed with something else on his mentor’s face. “Mr.Stark…” He croaked out softly. Afraid he would never be able to let this moment go.

“Hey kid.” His voice was soft as he stared down at the kid. He knew for Peter this wasn’t their first meeting but as far as he was concerned it was the first time he had seen the boy in five years.

Peter stared at him for so long, eyes just shimmering as the world around them seemed to fade into the background. He had so much he wanted to say, but Mr.Stark wasn’t hugging like the first time he had seen him again. He knew the man must be tired and still battling with confusion yet here he was already causing problems. He had no idea just how hard the words he spoke next would hit the old man though.

“Mr. Stark, I’m sorry.” He said in a voice just above a whisper.

Suddenly he was back on Titan, Peter laying before him just as he was now. Fighting so hard to stay and yet even as he had laid there dying he the kid had still apologized. For dying. “No...please don’t say that Peter.”

He was losing his grip. Heart pounding so hard he thought he might crack a rib, his breath suddenly wasn’t there as he struggled to catch it. The world fell out of focus all save for Peter. He leaned over the kid, his hand going to grip gently at his shirt.

Peter saw the signs of an anxiety attack, one he had clearly caused. But he couldn’t dwell on his own shortcomings right now, he had to help Mr.Stark, so he placed his hand over the one gripping at him. “Mr.Stark hey, it’s ok. Just look at me.”

He saw him struggle to focus, to meet Peter’s gaze. Eyes full of a wild panic.

“Listen, I’m right here. You did it Mr.Stark. You brought me back.” He forced a soft smile as he squeezed the other’s fingers gently. “You came back too. It’s all over. We won. You won.”

Tony stared at Peter, his breath began to even out as his heart rate slowed steadily down. “Pete...god you really are here aren’t you?”

Peter nodded, his smile turning watery. “I’m here. So are you. We are both here Mr.Stark and that means somehow it’ll be ok.”

He had so much he wanted to say to the kid, a million things to make it right but he couldn’t find the words. So after a minute he cleared his throat and pulled back with a gruff nod. “Right well….mind telling me why you passed out like that kid?”

Peter felt utterly dismissed, the moment between them already fading into oblivion. “I’m fine Sir, just need to eat soon. It’s been a stressful time and I just forget to eat I guess.”

Tony made a disgruntled sound as he swiped his hand slowly down his face before clapping his hands together and turning back to T’challa. “Any chance we can fuel to kid up before we move forward?”

T’challa glanced between man and boy for a moment before he nodded, if he’d had doubts before about Tony Stark being alive again it had been all but erased when he witnessed the display between the two. Even if the two of them had yet to understand the full implication of just how deep their feelings ran.

“Yes I’ll have them bring out something right away.” He nodded to a guard who darted off to inform the cook to bring out some sandwiches.

“Now perhaps while we wait we could all discuss this a little further.” He held up a hand to silence Stark’s protests. “I was wondering if perhaps you wanted me to send for your family or would you prefer to go to them?”

Tony felt another feeling ignite in his chest, anticipation and joy. He could see Pepper and Morgan once more, he could see his family. Nothing else in that moment mattered.

“I want to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading everyone! I am trying to update often so I hope you stick with me for the ride!
> 
> I know it's a rough read with a lot of errors since I don't have a beta but hey it's all in good fun.
> 
> Enjoy!


	8. Home at Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home is where the Heart is.
> 
> Tony Stark gets to come home.
> 
> It's what he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was very heartwarming to write, a few sad bits but mostly just joy. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Sorry for the mistakes! I tend to write these in a rush lol.

After a lengthy discussion T’challa had agreed to take both Tony and young Parker home, he had even adhered to Tony’s request to keep his unusual revival a secret until the man had talked to his wife. Which is how he found himself flying back to the States with both of them, he wanted to be made aware of all circumstances when it was said and done.

However as he now was able to observe in silence he was beginning to find it odd, how Tony and the boy acted. He had seen there earlier interaction, but now they hadn’t spoken a word to each other. Still he noted how the older man never seemed to be more than a few feet away from Peter. He caught him staring at the boy for long moments as though he wanted to say something but then reeled it back.

Peter himself kept his head down, quiet and trying to keep small in his personal space. He understood this must have all come as a shock to the boy but he had assumed he would be much happier to have been reunited with the man that had been prepared to give it all up to save them.

“Your Highness we are now approaching Stark Towers, landing in ten.” The pilot called back.

It seemed to rouse Peter from his stupor as he looked around, before an odd look overtook him.

“Mr.Stark I’m going to go home once we land.” He said softly.

“The hell you are.” The growl in his voice even startled Tony himself, he tried again this time in a softer tone. “No Peter, you can stay long enough for you and I to have a proper talk.”

Peter shuddered before shaking his head. “No need Sir. You need to spend time with your family and I have a feeling that’s going to take a hot minute. You have lots to tell them and I need to get back to Aunt May.” He looked the man dead in the eye. “My family.”

Tony felt his expression melt into one of shock and maybe even a little hurt. “Pete, you don’t need to rush off. I need to talk to you.” He emphasized the word  _ need _ .

“You don’t though. Plus I’m tired and just want to go home.” He tried to smile though it barely reached his eyes. “I’m happy for you Sir, that you get to be with them again. Just go enjoy it.”

Tony felt in his gut he wasn’t going to win this one, for now, so he nodded though it was done so reluctantly. “That doesn’t mean we are finished here kid.” The aircraft jostled as the landing gear emerged. The landing smooth as silk, but as soon as the door opened he knew what was happening. “Pete!”

He just shook his head in acceptance. “We are done.” He jumped out of the aircraft before anyone could respond and was gone, risking it all as he swung away.

“Shit.” Tony muttered as he felt the hole in his chest grow a little wider. IT was undeniable, the kid was trying to run away from him. To hell with that, once he handled things here he would drag the kid back.

“Mr.Stark I have been told head of security is on his way to greet us.” Came the Pilot’s voice again.

This had him smirking. “Well this should be fun, you head out first King.”

T’challa just sighed and began to disembark, greeted with a stoic faced Happy. “I understand you are head of security, I apologize for the suddenness of my visit.”

Happy looked him over once and nodded. “We are always happy to have you visit, Wakanda has done a lot to help us in these last fews years. Mrs.Stark intended to set up a meeting once things had died down some but I guess we kept you waiting.” Oh that was definite sarcasm there.

The warrior King inclined his head ever so and smiled. “As it would turn out today I have simply brought back something back that belongs to you.” He glanced back once. “I have been made aware you are of the skeptical sort.”

“Not to be rude your Highness but after seeing half the universe vanish I can’t say much would surprise me Sir.”

“Aw come on Hap that takes all the fun out of my grand entrance then!” Tony said in his usual cocky manner as he strutted out of the aircraft, arms spread wide and a smile on his face.

The blood drained from Happy’s face at the sight, he looked at T’challa who simply nodded. This was no trick. He looked back at Tony as if he had just crawled straight out of the grave. “S-Sir?”

Tony walked over, the playboy demeanor falling away as he put a hand on his longtime friend’s shoulder. “Hey Happy, long time no see.”

The man’s shoulders slumped as he leaned forward, his forehead resting against Tony’s shoulder as he the tears started their way down his face. “How…” He asked, his voice cracking from the emotion.

He wrapped one arm around Happy’s shoulder and gave him a clap sort of a hug. “I’m Tony Stark, dying was just another challenge I had to overcome buddy.” He then leaned in closer to speak in a hushed voice. “Happy, take me to my family.”

Happy pulled back, getting himself together as he nodded. He swiped away a few tears. “Yes Sir.” 

Tony grinned and followed as Happy led the way, the took the elevator down the lounge area. The upper floors all residential so it made it a little homier. It dinged and the doors open, the first one they saw was Rhodey.

“Hey Hap what did T’challa want…..” His voice trailed off as he looked at who was stepping off the elevator with Happy.

He blinked a few times but made no attempt to move, rather he called out almost to calmly. “Hey Pepper! You might wanna come here for a second. Now!” 

There was a sound from another room, then the click of hills. “Rhodey? What’s wrong I was just about to give Morgan her bath.” She walked in, looking at her long time friend.

He nodded his head towards the elevator.

“What are you?” She followed his gaze and her breath caught, hand flying to her mouth.

Tony almost lost it right there as he forced his body to make it’s way over until he was standing just in front of her. He reached up to tug her hand down gently. “Hey Pep.”

“Tony?” It was the softest word she had ever spoken. Her hand was shaking as she reached up to gently touch his hair.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. The him standing here had never died, never left. But he could feel the pain of it, see it in her eyes. When he opened his eyes once more he took her hand and drew it to his mouth, kissing her palm softly before smiling. “One last surprise.”

That was all she needed, she had her arms around him, her face buried against his neck as she sobbed. All the broken parts of her pouring out. The pain she had felt when she told him they would be ok, knowing she never would, came back all at once. “Tony!”

“Shhh shh it’s ok. I’m here.” He kissed the top of her head and held her as tightly to him that he could without hurting her. He would have held her forever if they hadn’t been interrupted by a squeal.

“Daddy!” A tiny body hurled itself across the room and against her parents legs.

Tony released Pepper long enough to scoop Morgan up, holding her on one hip with his free arm around Pepper. His family.

“Hey Munchkin.”

She giggled, her dark eyes seemed to glitter in a knowing manner. “I knew you weren’t gone. You’re Ironman!” she hugged his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Tony I don’t understand, how is any of this possible?” Pepper asked as she peered at him, her eyes knowing and full of love.

“Yea woudn’t mind hearing this story myself buddy.” It was Rhodey who spoke, he had finally made his way over to them. His own eyes a little red around the rims. “Not that it isn’t amazing to see you, but how it you are here?” He looked away for a moment. “I was there Tones, we both were. You didn’t survive that…”

Tony felt as the room suddenly got colder. Who all had been there when he died? 

“Well I guess if you want the cold hard facts then….I’m not exactly the same Tony that died that day.” He saw the mirrored looks of confusion.

“Time Travel?” Rhodey asked, clearly it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

He shook his head. “Good guess but not this time.” He shifted Morgan on his hip just a bit. “When I realized we could do this, that were would be able to get them back I was euphoric at that discovery.” He looked at his daughter, then at his wife.

“But I could not risk going through with that unless I had a sure fire way of knowing i wasn’t going to lose what I had gained. So while we worked on the quantum gate, I was also busy with creating a completely perfect copy of my memory along with the designs for a near perfect human replica.”

He saw it in Rhodey’s eyes as realization hit, he nodded slightly.

“You are telling me that what I’m looking at right now is…” Rhodey stepped closer, looking into the same eyes he had looked into a thousand times before. The same eyes he’d watched the light go out in.

“Yup. The world’s first A.I. and body that is as close to human as anyone will ever get. I breathe, eat and sleep. I cry and I bleed.” He tapped his head lightly as he pulled away to look a his wife who was stunned to say the least. “Everything in here is one hundred percent me. Aside from the few days before the event actually happened. I am Tony Stark.”

He saw the hesitation in them, the want to believe but the fear that this wasn’t the same man they loved so dearly. But then he felt Morgan’s arms around his neck and he hugged her closer.

She laid against him a moment, just hugging him before looking at her mommy. “He smells like daddy and he hugs like him too.” She smiled back up at him. “You are my daddy right? You came home to me no matter what?”

He heard his wife sob and Rhodey just chuckle, a sound of relief as he kissed his daughter’s cheek, earning a giggle. “Yes baby, I came home. Not matter what.”

Happy, Rhodey and Pep all surrounded him, doubt slowly fading as the welcomed him back.

He was home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, because there will be plenty of angst headed your way now!
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and compliments, I was so happy with this response as a first time writer of a FanFiction


	9. Confrontations and Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can run. Run until you are to tired for your feet to carry you another inch.
> 
> But eventually you have to face your fears.
> 
> You cannot run forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again!!
> 
> Guys, this chapter really hit me straight in the feels.
> 
> I hope I did a good job of catching the emotions for the characters in this chapter, it was a doozy trust me.
> 
> Anyways, hope you all enjoy!!

It took Peter a total of an hour to make it home, he hadn’t swung the whole way there, just long enough to get out of Mr.Stark’s sights. He was tired inside and out by the time he walked in the door, so of course he was greeted with May standing at the sink. “Hey May…”

She whirled on him, her features still made her appear very young but the look in her eyes balanced it with age old fear. “Peter! What the hell!?” She rarely ever swore at him so her emotions were a little all over the place to say the least.

“I get a call saying to had been escorted out of school, your cellphone was out of range! I had no idea where you were or what happened. Oh my god Peter.” Her shoulders seemed to sag as she fought between relief and rage.

He looked away, not knowing how to respond to any of this. When she’d found out about his ‘side job’ she had been on edge but fairly understanding. When he’d died and come back it had torn her apart, but still she had supported him knowing how Mr.Stark passing had affected him, yet now he was unsure if he could keep asking for the same patience from her. “I’m sorry.” He said lamely.

“No, that isn’t good enough. You have to tell me what’s happening.” She stepped closer, her hands going to his shoulders until he looked her in the eyes. “We agreed no more secrets. I can’t help you or understand things unless you explain them to me.”

He felt the trembling start against his will, the last few days were to much for him, today being the tipping point. He stepped into her embrace and put his forehead against her collar bone. “Mr.Stark is back…”

Her breath caught as her arms went around her nephew instinctually. “How is that even possible?”

He shook his head against her as he fought the sobs climbing into his throat. “May, it hurts so much. He...he did so much for me and because of that he d-died!” His arms clung to her, suddenly desperate for some kind of comfort.

“I can’t be a part of his life anymore! I can’t let him protect me like that ever again.” His whole body was a violent tremble now, his words almost jumbled from the onslaught of tears. “You have to promise me, promise to keep him away from me May. I’m begging you!”

May had not once seen Peter like this, not when his parents or Ben died. Not even when Tony Stark had passed did he react so hysterically. She hadn’t the faintest idea as to what events had taken place for him to get here, but she did know he was her first priority. “Shh shhh it’s ok. I promise Peter. You don’t have to talk to him until you are ready. It’s gonna be ok.” She pressed a kiss to the top of his head, still holding tight. “I larb you.”

He didn’t expect her to understand that he was both never going to be ready and at the same time he was already wanting to run back to Mr.Stark. But he just couldn’t. This was enough though because he knew he had someone to support him no matter what. “Larb you too.”

She gave him another squeeze, staying like that for a few more minutes before she pulled back and smiled at him. “How about you go shower, clean up and then you and I will go get dinner. Maybe even rent a movie on the way home?”

He huffed, smiling just a hair as the idea genuinely sounded amazing to him. “Yea, that sounds good. I’ll be back.”

He took off to shower in which he spend a good fifteen minutes just letting hot water spray over him before finally washing up. Once he was out and dry he just tossed on some jeans, a geeky science pun shirt and his hoodie. 

He headed back out and smiled at May as she grabbed her purse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner was good in the sense it offered a familiar setting and all around comfort. They didn’t talk about anything serious, mostly just silly memories or other people they would see walk by on the street. He talked about how he was happy he still had Ned and M.J. at school with him, in fact they had all rejoined the decathlon team. 

She told him about things that had happened to her while he was gone, only the good parts (no matter how few of them there had been) so as not to upset the mood. 

It was going well, easy to just sit and laugh as they let the rest of the world fade into the background of their private bubble. But that bubble came to an abrupt burst as the news suddenly popped up on the restaurant television. 

Tony Stark was all over it, making quick work of announcing his return. The coverage was from the S.I. towers where he had called a last minute conference as he was well known for. He had wanted to do nothing more than relish time with his family but he had wanted to get this out of the way.

Peter watched in awe as he listened to Mr.Stark spin some bogus story about being allowed a second chance from the stones (as most everyone knew about them now in some way, even if they didn’t fully understand them) when he had sacrificed himself for the world once more.

It floored Peter how he handled things, not even home a few hours and already the world knew he was back.

“Mr.Stark! Does this mean we can expect Ironman to rejoin the Avengers once more?” Asked a faceless reporter.

His world went deathly still as he felt the earlier fear resurface with a vengeance as he waited for the answer.

The older man seemed to ponder this for a long moment. “I think the new blood can handle the Avengers without me tripping them up these days.”

He let out a breath of utter relief for a moment.

“But that doesn’t mean I won’t step up if the world needs me, or if someone I care about is in danger. I will always be Ironman.” His voice was unwavering and eyes hard when he said those last few words before walking away.

“Peter? Peter?!” May reached over and shook his arm to get his attention.

He looked at his aunt, almost not understanding anything that was happening. “Aunt May?”

Her face was soft as she took his hand in her own. “Peter, what’s going on? Why don’t you want to see Mr.Stark really?”

He just shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t talk about it yet, ok?” His voice wasn’t cold or mean, just tired and sad mostly.

She nodded as she just continued to hold his hand, it broke her heart to see him like this. She knew how much Stark meant to her nephew so she couldn’t imagine why he was putting himself through this type of heartache.

They didn’t talk as much after that, they skipped desert and went to pick up a movie, choosing A New Hope since it was a favorite for both of them. Then that night she let Peter curl up against her much like he had as a child and they watched the movie until he was fast asleep against her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ 3am _

 

When Peter woke up at three he saw his aunt had fallen asleep as well, he felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. He stood up and stretched some before covering her up. He thought about heading to his room for a few more hours of sleep but instead opted for a few hours of patrol.

He put on the suit all save for the mask before grabbing a bag from under his bed and heading up to the roof, once he was there he gave the city a once over then donned his mask. This was what he knew, this was how he handled pain. By helping other people avoid it.

“Good Evening Peter, it’s late for starting patrol is it not?” Karen asked in her usual soft tone.

He just gave a cheeky grin. “Couldn’t sleep, besides I’ll be home before Aunt May wakes up. So do you have anything?”

There was silence for a moment, he assumed she was scanning radio channels and other means of criminal activity.

“Peter, it would seem Friday has been monitoring my channel, she was given strict orders to inform Boss the moment you put on the suit. She has politely chosen to give you a three minute delay before she reports this to Mr.Stark.” Karen sounded almost disgruntled with her charge being spied on so heavily.

Peter wasn’t actually shocked, not with all the protocols Mr.Stark had previously installed in the suit. “Well Karen guess I have to wear the other suit tonight.” He took off his suit, left it lay there for Mr.Stark to find and then grabbed his bag to web away a few buildings.

Once he was hidden in the shadows he pulled out the suit he had busied himself working on the last few months. It had started as a way to keep his mind busy, then he’d realized he needed to be able to have a suit he could repair without Mr.Stark around.

The new suit did not have any settings or gadgets, it had no A.I. but it was sleek and darker in color. Almost the entire thing was a deep red with golden spider legs designed across the back of it. The material wasn’t as protective but he healed fast and it was at least somewhat fire resistant.

His head snapped up when he heard the sound of repulsors, he saw Ironman land on the roof where he had been, then he watched Mr.Stark pick up the suit. He looked crushed.

It would have been easy to get away, well maybe. It was Ironman after all. But the more he thought about it the more he realized Mr.Stark wouldn’t stop until he had answers of some kind.

Peter made his choice right there, running wasn’t going to solve this. He swung back over. Landing in front of his mentor so suddenly he saw him take a step back in surprise.

“Peter, what are you wearing?” He gave him the once over. It wasn’t perfect, in fact it was very simple looking but gave the impression of someone older almost.

“Mr.Stark I haven’t handled this very well so far and I’m sorry for that. You deserve better than that, so here it is.” He stood to his full height as he looked at the man through his lenses.

“We don’t need Ironman anymore. You have done enough.” He had to fight to keep his voice steady. “When you died, Pepper told you it was ok to rest. You swore you wouldn’t give up the family you had gained. You have defied death in order to keep that promise. So tell me, is it fair to them for you to keep being Ironman?”

“Kid, I have been doing this a long time and Pepper knows it.” He looked at Peter with an almost cynical expression. “I don’t plan on doing the hero gig full time anymore. I have youngsters for that, but if they need a pro to step in then I’m here.”

“No.” Peter stepped closer, daring to remove his mask so they could see each other on equal footing. “I’m here. I heal faster. I am stronger. I don’t need the tech and I can get blasted over and over then still get back up.” His voice was straining, he could hear it.

“Yea you might be right, but you are still just a kid. Got your whole life ahead of you.” He let out a small laugh and tilted his head as he eyed the boy. “I still gotta look after you until you are ready for the big leagues.”

“No offense Mr.Stark but I’m pretty sure when I died that moved me to the top of the list for being in the big leagues.” He swallowed at how suddenly pale the older man went at his words.

“Christ that is not how this works. You never should have died Pete!” He ran a hand through his hair, turning to walk a few steps away before looking back at his spiderling. “You are a child! It’s why I did what I did! To get you back, to let you live your life.”

Peter had no idea what possessed him to say what he did next, it was the complete opposite of what Mr.Stark was saying. “I should have put the gauntlet on when I had it in my hands you know.”

Tony was stunned beyond belief. “What?!”

Peter looked down, knowing Tony didn’t even remember this. “In the second coming of Thanos. I had the stones, they were in your gauntlet. I gave them to Carol, but Thanos destroyed the gate. You all tried to stop him, but eventually you grabbed it, he managed to toss you away but it was your tech, you nano tech. You just pulled the stones onto your hand.” He could barely stand to relive it.

“You snapped them into dust just like he had done to us. Rhodey made it to you first, then me and finally Pepper. We watched you die. It was the single most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life.” He finally looked into Mr.Stark’s eyes once more, they were now shimmering with unshed tears. “It should have been me. I’m enhanced. I heal.”

Tony walked right up to Peter, putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that kid, but if...when I did that I had to have known why I was doing it. Because I didn’t want anyone else to die. We don’t know you would have lived, healing or not.” His own voice shook now, thinking of Peter wanting to lay down his life a second time in a battle he couldn’t even recall.

“It doesn’t matter. You should have lived, on Titan I was the last to go and it’s because my body kept trying to heal and so I felt it all happening instead of just fading like the others so I know I could have handled it!” It was the first time he’d ever admitted that bit from being dusted. No one else had understood it, it simply happened.

He had known, no matter how he tried to simply pretend it had just been like passing out. 

He felt his grip on Peter’s shoulder tighten, digging in as agony bloomed in his chest. “What do you mean you felt it?”

But it made sense, as much as he tried to block it out, the boy had begged not to go. Said he didn’t know what was happening, but some part of him had. He’d been right too, he hadn’t just faded like the rest of them. 

He tried to pull away without much fight. “You know what I mean, but that doesn’t matter! I’m saying I should have taken it as a sign, to have used the stones myself! Even if I had died again it would have been better!”

“DON’T YOU SAY THAT!” Tony roared, his face the picture of fury and regret. “Don’t! I fought for you kid! I wanted you back!”

“I don’t care!” This time he used his power and pulled away completely from Mr.Stark, his own breaths coming in short gasps. “You had a wife and a daughter! You were living a life you deserved! I was nothing!” He was wringing his mask in his hands, trying to stay calm.

“I know there was Aunt May, but I know what it’s like to grow up without my parents! To be afraid and alone! I didn’t know what it meant have a dad until….” He looked away, drawing a breath. “How could you want Morgan to live like that? I get you snapped your fingers for the world but it never would have come to that if you had just left me to fate!”

“Kid!” Tony snapped, his voice almost icy as he saw Peter freeze, then look up at him. “I had a plan to come back! Don’t you get it!? I never planned to leave Morgan alone, not completely. I told you, I’m selfish and I wanted both!” He went and yanked Peter flush against him, hugging him tight. 

“I wanted you both! Kid don’t you know!?” Tony nearly cried out.

Peter shook his head hard, refusing to raise his arms, refusing to accept what he didn’t deserve. “K-know what?”

Tony took a long breath, calming his nerves before pulling them just far enough apart to look into Peter’s eyes, at the tears streaming down his face. He smiled just a little. “Just how much I love you.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh trust me, there is plenty more to come.
> 
> But I had to give you guys a step in a more positive direction first.
> 
> Thanks once more for reading!
> 
> You are all amazing!!


	10. True to Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When all is finally right with the world you learn to breathe again.
> 
> You can smile.
> 
> You can laugh.
> 
> You can live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a tad on the short side, just enough of a blurb to get my point across for what needed to happen between the two of them.
> 
> I truly hope people continue to enjoy this. My heart has been so happy with all the positive feedback it's gotten.
> 
> I started this for self healing after Endgame but seeing it bring joy to others is what has really helped me.

Peter huffed, struggling with trying to control his crying for a moment as he stared up at Mr.Stark’s face. “B-but if you love me then you will put yourself at risk for me again.” He wanted to embrace this, to accept that his mentor loved him. But a part of him was still so scared at the idea of losing him once more.

“In a heartbeat kid, that’s what I’m supposed to do.” He pulled Peter back to him, pressing his mouth against the boy’s hair. “It’s a parent’s job to protect their kids, no matter what.”

“Mr.Stark you aren’t my dad, you don’t have to say this to me.” He was to afraid to be hopeful about such a change in their relationship. This version of Mr.Stark was still very much the man he had always known, but he somehow seemed just a little softer around the edges.

“You are my kid though.” He sighed, realizing he should have been more honest with Peter way before now, it never should have taken the boy being so fragile for him to be open about how he felt. “I was ready to turn my back on Rogers for my family, to protect the gift I had been given but Pete I couldn’t give up on you.”

“I just don’t want you to leave again Mr.Stark, I would do anything to keep that from happening.” He hugged Mr.Stark all the tighter. “Please don’t leave me again.”

He reached up to smooth a hand down the back Peter’s head. “I’m gonna do my damn best to stick around this time, we beat Thanos and the stones in this time are gone so I’m hoping we have a few peaceful days ahead of us for now, would be nice right?”

That managed to stir a laugh out of Peter as he nodded into the other’s chest. “Peace would be a plus that’s for sure.” He sniffed once more before pulling away a few steps and staring up at the man. “So what do we do now? The world knows Tony Stark is alive.” He grinned. “You might need a spectacular bodyguard.” He puffed up his chest a tad, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.

“Yea, I’m real lucky I have Happy for that.” He grinned when Peter rolled his eyes as his posture deflated some. “We live kid, we make memories and we move forward. We all got a second chance, I for one don’t intend to waste it.”

Peter nodded a bit more solemnly now. “I’m really happy you are back, I know you don’t remember it but it was awful. Watching you die was…”

“Like having the still beating heart ripped out of your chest and being unable to do anything to fix it?” Tony finished, nodding when Peter looked at him in confusion.

“I don’t remember dying kid, but I remember holding you as you turned to ash, same concept there bud.”

Peter couldn’t help but look away, feeling almost ashamed that he forgot that he had turned to dust in IronMan's arms. “Yea….sorry about that. I know you were pretty upset I followed you but...I was gonna get turned to dust no matter where I was Mr.Stark so if it had to happen, I’m glad I was with someone that I l-loved…”

Tony’s million dollar heart stopped for a full beat at those words. “Well…..ahem, we Mr.Parker are a couple of saps I think.”  But he could feel the smile on his own face. “So what’s say no more running away from me and we try to start rebuilding huh?”

“I think that sounds like the best idea I heard since Thai food.” He couldn’t let Mr.Stark outshine May completely. “May took me out for Thai food tonight, speaking of May she is asleep on the couch so I should get in a few hours of patrolling before she wakes up.” He wasn’t trying to run away this time.

He needed some time to get himself together, clear his head and figure out how to move forward with Mr.Stark being in his life. He was cautiously hopeful about it but still wanted a plan of action to keep the man out of danger.

“Oh no you don’t Parker, you have school tomorrow which thanks to me I’m sure will be stressful enough after this last stunt and you need to sleep.” He motioned back towards the door to the stairwell. “Back you crawl little spider.”

“Mr.Stark! I have been handling this for the last six months just fine all alone, I think I’m good.” He’d said it in humorous enough manner, with no real heat but the change of facial expressions on Mr.Stark’s face told him he’d said the wrong thing, joking or not.

“How many times did you get hurt?” He asked, voice steady as he realized the implications his six month absence had left.

Peter just shrugged. “Not many Sir…”

“Friday?” He asked over his shoulder, knowing she could access Karen’s logs.

“Right Boss, according to the log Spider-man encountered fifteen broken bones, mostly consisting of hairline fractures. Minor to heavy internal bleeding on three separate occasions. His worst injury to date is a fall, he was left with a concussion, four broken ribs and it seems he landed on some old construction equipment that ended with a piece of broken pipe tearing open the left side of his torso, avoiding organs but causing severe blood loss.” Friday sounded matter of fact.

Peter had nothing, he couldn’t defend it because honestly he had known he was being more reckless than usual the last few months. He’d kept it well hidden from May, healing as best he could.

“Peter…..go inside and go to bed.” Tony kept his voice low, not wanting to start another fight right now. “We are both tired.” Which was weird, for him to feel tired despite knowing his body wasn’t exactly real. “We can talk about this tomorrow, how about you come by my lab after school?”

Peter felt a surge of relief and even a little confusion. Mr.Stark wasn’t really one for being subtle when he was angry, especially when it was at Peter for being foolish. But at the same time the man had just been resurrected so he could see how it might change one’s perspective. “That sounds good Mr.Stark, so yea I’ll go get some rest then.” He hesitated a moment longer looking towards the door then back to Mr.Stark. “Sir, can I ask you something?”

He felt his anger soften just slightly, while he didn’t quite smile he felt the creases in expression smooth out. “Sure kid.”

“Just uh….well how come you made the password for memories you know, what you did?” He couldn’t even bring himself to say it now.

That got his lips to twitch upward. “I could never get you to call me Tony, I spent so much time hassling you for it I figured one last time wouldn’t hurt. Good to know if it means my life you can say my first name.”

Peter chuckled, feeling embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yea well it doesn’t even count. You didn’t hear it.” He laughed out loud at the look of dismay on Mr.Stark’s face, complete betrayal.

The sound of his kid laughing was the best, no tears or fear in that moment. Just laughter, the same laughter he’d heard so many times before this crazy journey has started. “Go get some sleep.”

“Yea, night.” He grabbed up his things and headed for the door, then as he gripped the handle he mustered all his courage. He looked back as Mr.Stark was encased in his armor once more, covering him just as easily as it had melted off before.

Now or never Parker!

“I missed you Tony.” The worlds spilled out in a rush and his face was on fire, nerves a royal mess as he ran inside. He couldn’t look at Ironman after that.

Maybe tomorrow.

After all, they had a lifetime of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might seem like an ending.
> 
> But this is only the beginning.


	11. So much for Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter just wanted one good day, a day to be happy. No fear or being sad for once.   
> Just one good day.  
> So of course this would be the day that Peter Parker would have to play hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys get some angst this chapter. 
> 
> Poor Peter can't catch a break.
> 
> But I can assure you I don't just hurt him for the feels, everything I do has a purpose I can assure you.
> 
> So please read and enjoy, as always I'm sorry for the not so great spelling and the grammatical errors.

Waking up the next morning had its pros and cons. Cons being that he had barely slept a wink all night. Pro being that for first time in a long time he’d been looking forward to the coming day. Though he hadn’t quite figured out how to explain to the rest of his class why exactly he’d been taken by Wakanda warriors.

Still, today was the first day to a new beginning, he planned on making it a good one. He showered, brushed his teeth and threw on some clothes before he grabbed four of the breakfast bars he had premade. Full of protein and calories but easy to grab and go. It had taken him a few tries but once he got it right they had been a miracle for his high metabolism. With his breakfast in hand he snatched up his bag by the door and took off, he was even getting to school early today.

Which as it turns out might not have been the best idea as there were several people already muling around when he reached the front steps. One of them being Flash, who zoomed in on Peter as soon as he began up the stairs.

“What was the deal Parker? You can’t honestly expect to get dragged out by Wakanda bodyguards and then show back up like nothing happened, so spill.” Flash’s eyes were hot with suspicion and maybe jealousy?

For just a moment Peter wanted to be honest, to tell Flash  off and show the world who he’d become, that he was more than just the weak highschool version of himself. “My photography has won some prizes in the past. Wakanda is considering funding an event here in the States for all the people that have returned. Nothing set in stone but I guess they are looking for young new talent, both from those left behind and those that returned. I was a candidate to take some pictures if it goes through.”

If nothing else, he was getting really good at thinking on his feet and everyone knew he had been relying more on his photography since returning as a way for him to cope. Seeing the world through a lens was easier.

Today just wasn’t the day to show off who he was, today was a day to make things go smoothly.

Flash sneered, eyes full of both satisfaction and disbelief. “I highly doubt they’ll pick you Parker, seems a little bit out of your league.” He smirked, turning to go inside but pausing to look over his shoulder. “But hey at least they noticed you, it’s the highlight of your life.”

Peter gave a sarcastic sneer along with a little haha sort of laugh as he watched Flash vanish inside, he was muttering to himself for a moment before a hand landed on his shoulder and he nearly made a very unmanly sound as he jerked away, whirling to face Ned. “You nearly became the guy who killed Spider-man!” His voice a hushed to whisper even though no one was close enough to hear him anyways.

“Sorry dude but I heard what you told Flash and well….are you sure what happened didn’t have more to do with freaking Tony Stark coming back from the dead!?” Ned’s whole face was the definition of excitement. “Holy Cow Peter! He came back, you must be so stoked!”

Right, he’d almost forgotten Mr.Stark had already held that press conference. “I mean yea of course I’m happy it was just a lot to take in and a lot of it is private so I can’t really talk about it much, you know?” He adjusted his bag on his shoulder, gripping the strap with both hands.

“For sure bro, but still it’s so cool! He came back! He brought us all back and then he came back! Ironman is the best.” He sounded almost dreamy as he spoke.

Peter just chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Riiiight, how about we get inside for class Ned?”

“Huh? Oh yea!” He followed along behind Peter, heading inside to put their stuff away before hitting first period.

The first half of the day went great to be honest. Classes were a breeze and Flash left them alone for the most part. The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary were a couple of the senior kids kept packing together and whispering. Peter had never seen them before so he knew they must have been younger than him at one point, which was still weird to think about.

At lunch Peter and Ned sat at a table with MJ and a few other kids that had been part of the dusted. Even Flash sat at the table, they didn’t all talk to each other but it was kind of comfort to know you weren’t alone.

“I said, we don’t really know if you should have been brought back.”

Those words caused Ned and Peter to look over to where those same seniors were towering over Flash and his buddies. Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Well sorry to burst you losers bubble but we are back, the Avengers fought to bring us back because we matter. So your pea brained opinions don’t really mean much to me in this case.” Flash might be a bully, but he wasn’t one to back down at being bullied either. He always held his ground.

But they didn’t seem so inclined to back down either, the biggest of the boys glared at Flash. “We didn’t say we agreed with the Avengers either. The world was finally getting better, we were healing and now everything is a crazy mess all over again, because you piles of ash!” His eyes scanned over the whole table.

Peter felt his hands tighten into fists. He had no idea what these guys problem was with the people that were brought back but he was ticked. They had no right to at like this, to act like they should have stayed gone.

“That’s not cool, they can’t dis on us like that.” Ned said softly, not thrilled with the situation either.

“Well sucks for you because no matter what you guys think we are already here. So get over it already.” Flash scoffed and went to turn back so he could finish his lunch.

“Yea well we never said there was no way to fix that did we?” The guy said, his voice low this time as he reached around behind him.

Peter’s senses suddenly screamed. He wasn’t Spider-man right now, but he couldn’t let this happen either. He was up, feet on the table as he barreled over everyone else’s food. 

He saw Flash’s look of shock, then he saw the glint of the barrel of the gun. “Flash! Move it!” He screamed as he slammed into his long time bully. It sent them flying into the seniors group, knocking the gun out of the leader’s hand and it went flying across the floor.

People screamed, panic broke out as people tried to get out of the cafeteria. Peter scrambled to his feet, utterly ignoring Flash’s babbling as his buddies helped him up. He had to find the gun, he had to get it away from-

“PETER!!!” It was MJ that screamed his name. She never screamed.

His head whipped up, pupils going wide as he saw the stupid idiot reaching down to pick up the gun.

He took a step back, putting his hands up in surrender. He couldn’t make a scene. “Look you don’t want to do th-!” His words were cut off by a loud bang.

His eyes had slammed shut out of instinct at first, but when he heard more screaming and the sound of a scuffle he opened them back up. Flash and Ned had both tackled the guy to the ground and MJ had grabbed the gun. His breath let out all at once in relief. “Oh thank god…”

“P-Parker…” It was Flash, but his voice was shaking so hard, even as the struggled to keep the shooter pinned. Sirens wailed in the background, teachers were rushing in and shoving both Flash and Ned away to take the other guy.

But Flash still didn’t look away from Peter.

In fact, they were all staring at him now. He heard a teacher shout something about the nurse.

That was when he felt it, the heat. It was burning hot in his chest. He looked down to see blood slowly painting the front of his shirt. Everything was buzzing, to loud. “Oh…”

MJ was at his side, her arm around his waist as he’d begun to slide to the ground, then Ned was on the other side. They began dragging him, telling the teachers they would get him to the nurse’s office. 

They knew they shouldn’t move him, but they had bandages there until help came.

But Peter’s sense began to return and as soon as they were in the hall he planted his feet. His strength still enough to overpower them. “No, if they help me then they might find out about...me…” he looked at MJ knowing she had already had her own suspicions.

She just nodded, not bothering to question it right now. “So what do we do?”

“Get me….outside.” He was having a real hard time catching his breath. “I just need to heal, it won’t take long. Just get me out of here.”

Ned shook his head. “You have to let us at least bandage it, you might heal Peter but you just got shot, you might bleed out before you heal.”

He hesitated only a moment before nodding, so Ned helped into one of the now empty classrooms while MJ snuck off to get what they needed. Deep down she thought this was a bad idea but she knew very little about what Peter’s secret meant so all she could do was trust them.

She got what she needed, then paused long enough at the lost and found to grab a disregarded hoodie. When she made her way back the sight laid out before her was haunting. “Oh my god Ned…”

Ned was crying, out of sheer panic it looked like. He had Peter’s shirt off and pressed to the wound. “It just won’t stop bleeding MJ, he can barely move.”

Peter shook his head. “M’fine. Just need to…..rest.” His head dipped forward and he felt hands holding him up. “No doctors. Can’t know.”

MJ steeled her eyes as she walked over and grabbed Peter’s phone. “He can’t see a doctor Ned, but we both know of at least one person that can help him again.” She thrust the phone into his hand as she took over for applying pressure. “Call him.”

Ned looked at the phone, fear and confusion making a mess of his common sense. “But Peter said…”

“I don’t care Ned! I don’t care what Peter said! Look at him! He is dying!” She was shaking, tears threatening to spill over. “I don’t get this stuff the way you two do, and sure he might heal fast but Ned he isn’t healing fast enough.” She looked at him as the first tears fell. “So call him Ned.”

Ned forced himself to nod, seeing her resolve he knew he had to. “Right.” He unlocked Peter’s phone and scrolled until he hit the right contact and hit call.

It took about four rings before a voice picked up on the other end.

“Jeez Parker, if I had known our little talk last night would cause you to be so clingy I might have toned it down some.” Tony said in way of answering then chuckled. “I’m just kidding kid, what’s up?”

“Mr.S-Stark this is uh Ned. Ned Leeds and I uh…..Peter he uh….” He fumbled his words as he saw Peter’s eyes closed.

MJ whirled and snatched the phone from Ned with one hand, the other one still pressing down. “Mr.Stark my name is Michelle Jones, Peter got shot stopping another kid today at lunch. Now I don’t know much about Spider-man but I do know that Peter is losing way to much blood.”

There was stunned silence for only half a heartbeat. “I’m on my way. Don’t lose him.”

She looked down at her friend’s pale face and nodded. “I won’t.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a cliffy here, but it's midnight and storming here tonight so I'm gonna call it a night.
> 
> I truly hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	12. Just a moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you need the worst thing to happen to witness one of the best moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope this is satisfying to all of you guys, it's been a rough few days but I told myself when I started writing this that I wouldn't give up no matter what.
> 
> It's a bit slow right now because I have some bridges to build with this before the plot can really take off, I hope you'll stick it out with me though!
> 
> As always, enjoy!

Tony had been coloring with Morgan, it was so surreal to be sitting there with his daughter and knowing that in a few hours he would have his other kid back. It was to be good to be true, which was when he got the call. “Morgan I need you to go find uncle Rhodey and play with him ok?” He was trying to keep his cool.

He’d been blessed with a daughter wise beyond her years because in that moment she didn’t ask her father a million questions and she didn’t argue. She just nodded before putting her crayons down to run off and find Rhodey.

Tony could feel his pulse racing, anxiety was there but he could also feel himself maintaining control. He didn’t suddenly like the world was tilted because he knew if he lost control that would only hurt Peter. So he tapped the housing until on his chest and was gone as soon as he could take off.

It took him all of eight minutes to reach Peter’s school, he saw that cops were creating a perimeter but he had no time to waste, he ignored them as they called out to him. He knew they were only doing their jobs but he had a job to do too. He made his way inside, tracking Peter’s phone to an abandoned classroom. 

Pushing the door open he saw his worst fear all over again. Ned was hovering beside MJ as she was talking to Peter, her hands covered in his blood. Upon hearing him they both turned to face him, the girl’s face crumbled with relief.

“He’s lost a lot of blood but I kept him talking.” Her voice sounded very small, her normal gruff exterior was quickly fading.

He nodded as he made his way over, his helmet melting away so he could look down at Peter. The boy was pale, eyes had gaunt dark circles under them but he was awake. “Hey kid, thought we said we would have a little bit of peace?” He wanted the kid calm as he let Friday scan him. He was going to have to act fast.

Peter’s head rolled to the side slightly as he stared up at Mr.Stark, he couldn’t feel a whole lot right now but instinct told him he was relieved to see the man. “Heeey Mr.Stark you’re here.” He smiled a little.

“Getting shot sucks.” He said in a whisper, the fear starting to creep its way back into the corners of his mind.

“I know kid, but we are gonna fix you up.” He gently moved the shirt away and used his nanoites to seal the wound and prevent further blood loss. The scan cleared his concern of the bullet having his anything vital. It was a clean shot, he probably would have started healing but due to the circumstances of the last few days he was sure he had been stressed and it was taking a toll on him.

He gave the kid’s shoulder a quick squeeze before turning to his friends. “I’m gonna get him out of here, I can treat him better at my lab but I can promise you he will be fine.”

Ned nodded, looking as though the last of his nerves were about to give out as his eyes kept darting from the billionaire back to Peter.

“Just make sure you let him know how dumb he was once he is able to retain the information.” Was MJ’s response to the matter.

He smirked and gave her a ‘Will do’ wink before going to pick Peter up, the boy barely moved when jostled.

Once he had the kid secure his helmet settled back into place and he took off out the window to avoid any questions. He was thankful that amidst the confusion that the teachers has been busy restraining the culprits until the police arrived and these three kiddos had gone unnoticed for a short amount of time, though he was sure MJ and Ned would have to deal with the fallout of Peter’s vanishing after getting shot in the chest. He would just have to figure that out once he got the boy stable.

He got him back to his lab, Friday had already notified Happy of the situation so he was there waiting to help securely move Peter onto a table. If the damage had been any more severe he would have been forced to call in Doctor Cho, but luckily with the current situation he knew he could handle it.

It the back of his head he felt a hint of the old panic, the fear that used to make staying calm so hard but it didn’t touch him now. He worked fast to clean the wound out as to prevent any chance of infection. He did a double pass to make sure no bullet fragments had remained, also making sure one last time nothing vital had been hit. The kid was so damn lucky.

He stitched him up easily enough and put him on a steady I.V. drip to keep him hydrated. Once he finished cleaning the area one last time and bandaging up the front and back he let him sag a little, leaning against the table his kid slept on.

“Gotta say I’m impressed Tony, I remember back when you might have had a panic attack trying to deal with that.” Happy commented as he clapped his boss on the shoulder, it was still so surreal that he was back. That he was here.

“Yea well that would have been the worst thing I could do. Had to stay calm and take care of the kid.” As his mind settled though, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from Peter. This had happened while he was just plain old Peter Parker. There was no telling what the future held for him as Spider-Man.

“I suppose I can’t disagree with that.” Happy stared at the kid for a second then looked at Tony who had an odd sort expression on his own face. “Everything ok Boss?”

“Hm?” Tony moved his head as though to look up but his eyes stayed focused on Peter.

“Tony, he’s gonna be fine.” He might have spoken to soon about Tony having a panic attack.

“He is. This time.” He finally turned towards Happy to give him his full attention. “But this was a school shooting Hap, he has already died.” He could hear the bite in his words, the pain. “He has been through more than any kid his age should go through and yet he wanted to take up the mantle as Earth’s defender in order to keep me safe.” He knew that’s what Peter had been playing at.

“Kid’s got a hero complex as big as yours I’m afraid.” He shrugged as he stared at Tony. “You and he went through something not a lot of people go through. You watched him die, fought to bring him back. Finally got him then turned around and sacrificed yourself for the world which meant he had to watch you die. I can’t say he is in a very good headspace.”

“I don’t remember dying Happy, I don’t remember putting any of you through that.” His fist clenched, he was back sure but that didn’t mean his death hadn’t changed things on a larger scale than he’d anticipated.

“I know you don’t.” He glanced back at Peter who was breathing softly, the lines of worry smoothed away for the time being, leaving him to look much younger. “But he does.”

It ached, something deep inside caused pain he wasn’t sure this body should be able to feel. The next words he spoke were just as shocking to himself as they were to Happy. “I want him to stop being Spider-Man.”

Happy stiffened, more so at the conviction behind those words as opposed to the actual words themselves. “Look I get where you’re coming from Boss but he was doing this hero business before you showed up. He’ll keep doing it. The only thing you will do by walking this road is rip apart the trust he has in you Tony.”

He lost it for half a second, slamming his fist onto the nearest surface, the sound caused Peter to jerk in his sleep and make a small sound of discomfort. “Shit.” He reached out without thinking to smooth the kid’s hair back gently. “It’s ok kid, you’re good.”

Peter relaxed, the touch seeming to settle him a great deal. His lips twitching into a relaxed smile.

Happy watched the moment in an awed sort of fashion, he knew Tony wouldn’t make Peter stop being Spider-man. He was just scared and with everything that happened he was probably stressed the F out. But the tenderness he showed towards Peter was something else entirely.

Something he shouldn’t be a part of right now, so he didn’t say a word as he slipped out to let the two of them have this moment on their own.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked the fluffy bit at the end, it was worth writing the rest to me haha.
> 
> Hope everyone liked it, I'll be back with more soon!!


	13. Our Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it takes getting shot to see your family for what it is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you'll see I had a good reason for letting Peter get hurt, it led to some good old fashioned fluff and feels.
> 
> Not Beta-read guys so enjoy!

It only took about two hours for Peter to stir, he struggled to open his eyes to try and find out why he felt weighed down. He managed to pry his lids apart and was met with the sight of Mr.Stark laying across his legs, snoring softly. 

It was an odd sight for many reasons, firstly being that he never though he would see a day that Mr.Stark would sleep in front of him and then secondly it was still so weird to think that his new body was so advanced that he could actually get so tired he would pass out in this situation. He really didn’t want to wake him but he also really needed to use the bathroom.

He leaned forward and gently clasped onto his shoulder, shaking gently. “Hey Mr.Stark, time to wakey wake.” He said with a grin.

Tony scrunched up his face before slowly blinking his eyes open, there was the smallest of shimmer’s in his eyes as he fully woke up and looked at Peter who was offering him a nervous smile. “Peter!” He was standing and at the kid’s side in a flash. “How we feeling huh?”

“I’m fine I think, I don’t really remember much after realizing I had been shot, which by the way I don’t think I would enjoy repeating.” He said with a small chuckle. That had definitely been a zinger.

“You nearly gave me and both your friends a heart attack Pete, I want to tell you to be more careful but from what I understood it wasn’t entirely an easy situation to avoid. I’m just glad you’re ok.” He eyed the boy who was now full of color.

Peter fiddled with the sheets between his hands, his discomfort momentarily forgotten as a question surfaced. “Mr.Stark….are you different now?”

That was not the question Tony had been expecting. “Different how exactly? I mean that’s kind of a complicated question given all that’s happened so far.”

He nodded and took a breath. “Right sorry, what I mean is you seem different. I guess calmer? No offense but you tend to panic or react in a less chill manner but lately you seem able to handle things just the way they need to be without...freaking out?”

The thought hadn’t really occurred to him, but it made sense. He didn’t feel that impending sense of doom or overwhelming fear. When he slept it was real sleep, not a few minutes here and there. He was even more relaxed than when he and Pep had settled down with Morgan. “I don’t know Peter, I suppose it’s possible.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought.

“I guess when you get down to it I’m just an A.I. now, not the original copy. My brain is designed to be me but I suppose it wouldn’t mimic everything down to a T.” It was a sort of terrifying realization.

“Does that….does that mean you don’t really uh care as much?” Panic burned through him, had this all been a mistake?

“No! No, I do not love anyone less Peter and that includes you.” He gave the kid a smile. “It’s just means I have some kinks to figure out is all, we’ll get there. In the meantime we have to figure out what exactly to tell your school since half of them did see you get shot and then vanish.”

Peter felt the blood drain from his face. “Oh my god. What are we gonna do Mr.Stark?!” He didn’t want anyone knowing the truth yet.

“Well we could make a play off you being my intern. I was notified of the situation and me being me wasn’t really in the mood to wait around for someone else to help you. So I had my personal medical team take care of you.” Sounded pretty solid to him. “You might have to keep up the appearance of injury for a few weeks though. Think you could handle it?”

As quickly as the panic had flooded him it now vanished. “Yea I think I can manage.” It was better than anyone finding out he was Spider-Man just yet. “How do you think the media will take it though? I mean you have been gone for six months, won’t it seem a little weird to suddenly be focusing on me when you just came back?”

“Just leave the details to me, for now I’m gonna have you moved to a room here so you can rest. I’ll let May know everything that’s going on. I want you to rest a little more though ok?” He knew the kid still had some healing to do.

“Yea ok….thank you Mr….uh….thanks Tony.” He almost whispered.

Tony felt the smile on his face grow even wider. “Anytime kid.”

He then had Peter moved to a room on the floor he and Pepper lived, once he was settles and made sure the kid was asleep he went back out into the living room where Morgan was with Rhodey. “Rhodey, sorry man. I forgot I left her with you.”

Rhodey just waved him off. “It’s fine man, I admit Pepper and I kinda freaked but then we saw the news and Happy called so we got the idea. Had to save your kid.”

Morgan looked up from her coloring with confusion written all over face. “Daddy’s kid?”

Tony inwardly groaned, ready for her to be jealous at the phrase, but instead he saw her face light up.

“Does that mean I have a big brother for real!? YAY!” She bolted, quicker than Tony or Rhodey could move.

She was darting around and looking in all the rooms, ignoring the two grown men chasing her until she saw him asleep. She ran and jumped on the bed, careful no to mush him. She saw him jerk awake. “HI!”

Peter blinked a few times at the little girl on his bed. He’d met her once at the funeral but emotions had been running to high for him at the time. This was Morgan, Mr.Stark’s little girl. “Uh hi, you must be Morgan?”

She bobbed her head excitedly. “And you’re my brother!”

“Woah uh Morgan I think you might have misunderstood something.” No matter how much he wanted it, that was something he could never have. Mr.Stark as a father.

Her little face screwed up as she tried to understand. “But Uncle Rhodey called you daddy’s kid, so that means my brother!”

“Oh no Morgan that’s just a nickname your dad has for me. He used to call me that all the time before you were born.” He offered a smile. “But we can be friends can’t we?”

She looked on the verge of tears as she turned around when she heard her daddy walking up. “Daddy! Is he my brother?!”

Peter looked at his mentory in dismay. “I’m sorry Mr.Stark I tried to te-” He was cut off when the older man held up a hand.

Tony smiled at his little girl. “Sorry Morgan, Pete got hurt earlier and he isn’t thinking straight.” He picked her up and nuzzled her cheek which earned him a giggle. “Morgan, this is your big brother Peter and I’m sure he can’t wait to hang out with you.”

Peter opened his mouth but nothing came out, shock was all he felt for a moment before he felt the tears coming. He started trying to blink them away as Tony sat down beside him, Morgan on his lap. He felt a hand grip the back of his neck and pull him forward until his head leaned into Tony’s chest.

“Shhh it’s ok kid.” He pressed a light kiss against the kid’s curls. “You’ve always been mine. It’s ok.”

Morgan reached out and patted Peter’s cheek gently. “It’s ok Petey, you belong to me now too! We love you!”

Peter gave a wet laugh and nodded against Tony’s chest.

“Yup. How much do we love Peter huh Morgan?” He asked, his own voice cracking just a hair.

“We love you 3000!!” She squealed.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This made me happy and sad all at once guys.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> I enjoy all the comments and kudos! You make it worth it to keep writing!!


	14. It'll be ok

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you need to hear it more than once.
> 
> We are only human after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly full of fluff but the next few chapters won't be as mushy. I just felt our boys needed a little clarity and a good starting point to move forward on.
> 
> Also it's 3am here so this update might be a little rough and I do apologize but I very much wanted to get it out for you all.
> 
> Enjoy!

The next morning when Peter woke up he was confused as to why it was so hot, like he was melting hot. Until he peeked under his blanket and saw Morgan curled up to him, her hands tucked under chin like a kitten. It was the strangest feeling, to have her so comfortable with him that she had stayed with him all night.

“In my defense I tried to take her back to her bed after you both crashed but she had a death grip on your arm that I don’t think even my gauntlet could have broken.” Tony said from his spot leaning against the doorway.

“No it’s fine, sorry I was out of it last night. I guess getting shot tends to take it out of you.” He said, trying to make light of yesterday.

Tony’s eyes went hard. “Yea, let’s not go making a habit of that kid. Anyways, I talked to the school and gave them the information on you being my intern and all that jazz. They weren’t happy with how I handled it but are glad you are ok. I told them I would let them know when you would be returning to school.”

Peter nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He peeked down at Morgan again and grinned. “So….I have a sister huh?” He glanced back at Tony and smiled.

“I mean don’t enjoy it to much, she can be a little terror. But yea she’s yours if you’ll have her kid.” Something about seeing his kids curled up together in bed was almost to much for his heart.

“I’ll be a good brother Mr.Stark.” He wouldn’t let them down. Things had started out rough since his return but for the first time he saw a new path. One he was ready to walk with his head held high.

“I know you will Pete, she is lucky to have you kid.” It hurt a little to hear him going back to the Mr.Stark business though. “So, back to Mr.Stark huh?”

Peter flushed and just gave a small shrug. “You have always been Mr.Stark so it feels weird to say anything else I guess. I haven’t known you as long as your other friends and family…”

Last night came rushing back to him when Mr.Stark said he’d always been his but it was still so hard to wrap his head around it.

“I see.” He took a few short strides over to the bed where he sat down. “Peter, last night wasn’t a joke. You are my kid as much as Morgan is you know?”

He couldn’t bring himself to look up at his mentor. “I just don’t know when it changed for you. I still feel like some dumb kid you were stuck looking after.” They had barely just begun to get close before it all happened and at the same time it had felt like some monumental shift had taken place without him ever knowing.

“Yea I admit I wasn’t great at really being the man you needed me to be. And then you followed me into space, you were great. I was so proud Peter but then you...you died and I couldn’t save you.” His eyes closed briefly at the memory and when he opened them again they were haunted.

“I realized how very little I had shown you how special you are. I regretted it, all of it. I would have given everything to change it.”

“You did.” Came Peter’s soft response.

Tony paused to look Peter in the eyes. “What?”

“You did gave everything in the end. You saved us all.” He didn’t think he would ever shake the horror of that day for as long as he lived. “Despite all your backup plans I think you would have done it anyways. Even if you’d had no way to come back you were ready to die that day Mr.Stark and Pepper knew it, so did Mr.Rhodes. That’s why they let you go.”

“Peter I wish I could make that pain vanish, but I’m here now and I won’t leave you again.” He couldn’t afford to leave his family again.

“I want to believe you, I really do but I know you’ll always be the one to lay on the wire Mr.Stark, you’ll always be the guy to make the sacrifice to let us be the ones to survive.” It was just who he was, which was why he needed to be the stronger hero.

“Mr.Stark I know you don’t like it but I’m stronger. I heal faster and my body can take way more damage. Shuri even said your new body isn’t like super strong.” Peter felt his resolve strengthen once more. “I want you to let me be that guy from now on. Let me be the one to help shoulder the burden of saving the world.”

“No. Peter I know you want to keep me safe but I won’t let you risk your life.” It was his job to keep the people he loved safe.

“With all due respect Mr.Stark I don’t need anyone's permission.” He plucked at a loose strand from the blanket. “If I see danger I’ll be there. If the world is in danger I’ll be there to protect it. I’m Spider-man and I’m an Avenger now.” He looked back up at Mr.Stark who had gone pale if that was even possible. “You can’t keep me from fighting. I won’t ever be weak again.” He had been caught off guard yesterday. He knew that couldn’t happen again.

Tony’s jaw was tight as he spoke, his calm facade he’d had as of late seemed to be slipping. “You’re right kid I can’t control you but I’ll be there every time you take on something out of your league. If you are in trouble I’ll be there. I’ll be there to save you every time and you can’t stop that.”

“Mr.Stark!” He yelped, but quickly hushed when Morgan made a sound. When he spoke again his voice much softer. “Why can’t you see I’m just trying to protect your second chance here?”

“I do see that kid. I think it’s you who can’t see what’s going on here though.” Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m gonna lay this out for you Pete and I want you to really listen ok?” He waited for Peter to nod before he continued.

“My second chance didn’t start with Morgan. It started with you Peter. You showed me I wanted more from life, that something as wonderful as being a father wasn’t out of my reach.” He reached out to stroke the back of his daughter’s head. “I love her more than life itself, she is my daughter Pete.” He paused a moment, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “And you are someone I very much consider to be a son. Not in the conventional sense because we have a lot to figure out. I would never try to replace your real parents or try and force you to think of me as a father, but in the five years you were gone it made me realize how quickly you had made a huge difference in my life.”

Peter felt like he was choking on everything he was feeling. It wasn’t a perfect speech, like Mr.Stark said they still had a lot to work on too. “Th-thank you Mr.Stark.”

“Already told you that you were mine but I also know you are Peter Parker and tend to overthink things a great deal more than you should so I’ll say it as often as I need.” He moved to stand. “As for everything else, how about we make a deal and agree to protect each other for now huh?”

He gave a watery laugh. “Ok deal. I’ll watch your back, you watch mine.”

It was at that moment that Morgan popped up, her face scrunched up from sleep, eyes bleary as she blinked a few times. 

Both Peter and Tony froze as the watched her for a moment.

She huffed a little and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t want to dance with the purple fish.” She muttered before slide back down into dreamland.

Tony smothered a laugh while Peter chuckled a little.

It was going to be ok. They were both a little broken. Moments like this might need to be repeated in the future. Peter might need reassurance and Tony still had a lot to learn.

But that was ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the read, as it moves forward I will be focusing more on them growing and the world learning to move forward.
> 
> We will get some more action and genuine learning about each other!
> 
> Please continue to enjoy the story!


	15. Girls and Bugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets a chance to breathe, to realize life is slowly moving forward.
> 
> It's time he began moving again, began living again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel pretty happy with this chapter guys, it's a little longer and fleshed out a tad more. It's also moving forward more towards the plot so a little less fluff this time.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

It was over a week before Peter could return to school even though by then he was mostly healed. He wore a sling for show though because  to many people had seen him get shot. Most people were really happy to see him, thought he had been really brave and of course the fact that it was now widespread news that he was actually Tony Stark’s personal intern didn’t hurt his sudden spike in fans.

However he was mostly just happy to get back into his normal routine and by the time lunch rolled around he was happy to just sit with Ned and MJ, thankfully most people took a hint from the death glares MJ gave them and let him have some space.

“Peter this amazing! Now Flash can’t even say you’re lying because Tony Stark himself told the school your his intern!” Like always Ned just saw the best in things.

Peter grinned and gave self conscious shrug. “He had to, otherwise people might have found out about secret number two.” He kept his voice a low whisper, glancing over at MJ, she knew his secret but they hadn’t really had a chance to talk about. Still he knew according to Mr.Stark it was mostly to her efforts that he escaped the whole shooting ordeal as smoothly as he did.

“Yea but it’s still so cool, it’s cool he’s back too! Like man he saved the whole universe and gets this awesome second chance!” His best friend just kept looking awestruck by this latest turn of events.

Peter was going to remark on it but his senses tingled and he turned to look behind him. Flash was standing there, mouth set in a hard line and eyes filled with something Peter couldn’t identify. “Flash?” 

“Parker.” He moved to set his tray down, stilling looking at Peter as he took his seat.

“Listen Parker, I don’t think we will ever be friends but I have something I want to say.” His throat worked as he swallowed, trying to find the most tactful approach. “I owe you both my gratitude and an apology.”

“F-Flash?” He was stunned, the guy wasn’t exactly one to show a great deal of humility. Even MJ was watching with curiosity in her eyes.

“Just….you saved my life the other day. I can’t and I won’t deny that fact. You saved my life and then Tony Stark came for you which means I was wrong in calling you a liar.” He looked away, his face coloring just the faintest bit. “So thank you for saving me. I was wrong to call you a liar too.” This was obviously difficult for him, along with very out of character.

“You’re Welcome Flash, I just didn’t want to see anyone get hurt. Doesn’t matter if we haven’t exactly had the greatest history together I mean.” He used his plastic fork to stir around the fake mashed potatoes on his plate. This wasn’t exactly easy for him either. He was accustomed to Spider-Man getting the thanks, not Peter Parker.

“Yea well like I said this won’t just make us friends but I owe it to you to at least try and be a decent human being. So I’m gonna try and back off the way I treat you.” He abruptly stood, glancing down at Peter with a smirk. “See ya around Parker.”

Peter had a small grin on his face as he watched the other teen walk away, then looked back at Ned who of course just sat there with his mouth hanging slightly open. “Trying to catch flies there Ned?”

His mouth snapped shut as he blinked a few times. “Did Flash Thompson just say sorry?”

“Ned, learn to keep up loser.” MJ said, but her tone was softer and she was looking at Peter with an almost smile.

Peter felt a flush crawl up his neck, he had no idea what to say to her yet so he solved his issue by shoveling the potatoes into his mouth.

“Dork.” Was all she said, going back to her sketchbook.

He just grinned, mouth full and all.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, people came up to him sure but he found it pretty easy to deal with. He actually felt ok for the first time in a long while. He and Mr.Stark finally seemed to be at a good place, looking out for each other rather than just running in blindly to danger.

He was in such a good mood he was barely paying attention as he headed to his locker, so when he collided with another body he was genuinely shocked. It wasn’t exactly something that happened to him often. “Oh man I’m sorry!” He looked up and found himself looking into a pair of startling blue eyes.

“Are you ok?” Her voice was soft, full of concern as she tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

“Huh?” He followed her gaze to his arm. “Oh yea! I’m good, uh…” He had no idea who she was.

“I’m Gwen. Gwen Stacy, you must be Peter. The kid who played hero for that jerk Flash and got shot huh?” She grinned, eyes lighting up with humor. 

Peter could barely respond, she was amazing. She had on a knee length skirt, it was a dark blue and matched with a cream colored button top. Her hair was mostly up aside from the few fly aways she kept tucking at. “Wasn’t really a hero.” He half mumbled.

She laughed almost as if she sounded surprised. “I mean I kinda think getting shot to save someone else is pretty heroic Peter Parker.”

“I mean I guess but I just didn’t do it to be a hero.” He felt oddly nervous, almost more so than he had with Liz. “It was just the thing to do right?”

She made an O with her lips and kind of clicked her tongue as she looked at him, her expression inquisitive before she just all out smiled at him. “Well I think you are very much Midtown’s personal super hero. I’m just a little sad it took this turn of events for us to me Peter Parker.”

“It’s a big school, I’m sure I don’t know a fourth of the kids here, plus I tend to stick to a small group. Decathlon is sorta my only activity anymore these days.” Way to go Parker, make yourself sound like a total hermit.

“Well if that’s the case, do you have a day after school you are free then?” She shifted, bringing attention to the arm load of books she carried.

He felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner. “Do you uh need help with those?” He offered, completely sidestepping her question by mistake.

“I’m good.” She said, still waiting for his response she just smiled, looking like an amused cat.

“Uh….Oh! Free? Yea uh I don’t have my internship or practice on Thursday, why?” He was an idiot. A complete and utter idiot.

“Awesome, well then you can meet me at the new ice cream shop over by Delmar’s around five then! Sound good?” She leaned in just a little closer.

He blinked about three times before he just nodded slowly.

“Great. Ok well I have to get to my study group but I’ll see you then Peter Parker!” She brushed past him, their shoulders just barely grazing as she darted off down the hall.

He had no idea what had just happened, but logic told him that he had just somehow gotten a date with Gwen Stacy and he wasn’t entirely sure how that had just happened.

He was on autopilot as he got his bag from his locker, he closed it up and headed to his usual spot to change into his suit. He spent probably fifteen minutes on a nearby rooftop, it was a favorite of his because he could see a cute park from there where lots of families seemed to hang out at, finally he spoke to Karen.

“Hey Karen, how’s it hanging?”

“Hello Peter, I was beginning to wonder if everything was ok. You didn’t respond when I first greeted you.” Her voice hinted a note of concern.

“I’m fine it’s just….Karen I think I have a date.” His voice still laced with the awe he felt from earlier.

“A date? Congratulations Peter, may I ask who the lucky girl is?” Karen always sounded so happy for Peter, almost like an older sister.

“Her name is Gwen, she is really pretty. She goes to my school and I’m sure I have seen her around before. When I think about it I know I have heard of her too. She is part of the student council as well.” He smiled beneath his mask as he rested a foot on the ledge of the roof, scanning the city below.

“I am so happy for you Peter, but I must ask you before anything else. You aren’t planning on going out are you? Boss said you shouldn’t patrol until after your check up.” She was already scanning him, checking his wound.

“I’m fine Karen, I was only going to go out for a few hours. I need to stretch my muscles and the wound is almost healed up completely.” He was pretty confident he was fine to go out by this point.

There was a second of hesitation before she spoke again. “Peter, would it be wise to at least check with Mr.Stark first?”

He almost said no, but he thought back to last night and felt a strange pressure in his chest. If he wanted this to work he had to learn to communicate with his mentor more. “Sure Karen, go ahead and call Mr.Stark for me.”

“Of course Peter.” She sounded relieved at his choice.

She sent a direct call to Mr.Stark and it only took a moment before his face popped up on the screen.

“Peter, what’s up kid?” He asked as he looked over the microchip he was working on.

“Hey Mr.Stark, would it be fine you think if I went on patrol for a few hours? I don’t feel any pain and I’m pretty sure the wound is mostly healed if not already gone. Just for a few hours?” He sounded like a kid asking for a new toy for having behaved in the store so well.

Tony paused, seeming to think it over. “Karen do his scans back up is request?”

“They do Sir, he would be in no immediate danger if he were to patrol. While there is still some minor healing left, I do not think he is in any danger or injuring himself further.” Her response coming from nothing more than hard facts.

Peter grinned. “See Mr.Stark?”

“Yea yea ok it’s what almost four? I’ll tell you what, you patrol until seven and don’t handle anything bigger than a basic street crime for tonight then swing by. Let me look at the arm, you can have dinner with me, Pep and Morgan. If it all checks out you can go back to your normal routine tomorrow?” He felt like that seemed fair.

“That actually sounds pretty fair Mr.Stark, thank you! I’ll get busy and see you at dinner tonight then!” He couldn’t remember the last time things seemed to be going so perfect.

“Alright, see you later kid.” He disconnected the call after that.

Peter nodded, that was a good choice. “Thank’s Karen, I’m glad I called him. Now, what do you have for me?” A little action would be the icing on the cake for today.

“Well Peter the police scanners have indeed picked up some unusual activity downtown.” She sounded wary, considering Boss had said keep it low profile.

“What’s unusual mean in this case huh?” In this day and age he wasn’t sure what qualified as weird anymore.

“There have been multiple sightings of what appears to be a man in a suit that resembles a….scorpion.” Her voice waved. This was not low profile.

Peter laughed at first, that sounded almost comical. “A scorpion costume? I guess I shouldn’t be laughing since I am Spider-Man after all.” He shook his head. “Ok, where is this doofus at?”

“Peter, he is at the corner of 51st and Main, but Peter there have been several people injured. He has torn through several vehicles with his mechanical tail.”

His eyes widened momentarily before he ran and jumped from the building, swinging in the direction of where Karen had him located. “Ok Karen, let’s go squish us a Scorpion.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! 
> 
> Even I'm excited to see how things turn out with this.
> 
> When I first started writing this I wasn't sure where t would go but now I think I have a good grasp of the story. I think it'll be a doozy!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this, see you next time!


	16. Working Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter learns it's ok to ask for help, that when you care about someone you have to trust them to care back.
> 
> He makes the smart choice this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a little shorter because I struggle with fight scenes of any kind but I do hope you enjoy it.
> 
> I'm trying to write this in a different fashion, one that shows you don't have to keep repeating the same mistakes and learning to trust is a good thing.
> 
> No Beta!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> Just stick with me guys, it's picking up speed!

Peter landed on a lower ledge of a building to get a visual before he made contact. Sure enough in the middle of the street was a man with a bionic suit of sorts which would have almost looked silly but when he caught sight of the giant scorpion tail swinging behind him that easily swept a taxi out of his way he knew this guy wasn’t playing around. So he squared his shoulders and swung to land in front of the baddie, he put his hands on his hips and tilted his head.

“Hey man, didn’t anyone tell you we already have a Spider-Man and an Ant-Man, I think you are a little behind the times when it comes to picking your identity.”

The man paused his destructive motions for a moment, angling his head to look at the newcomer through his vizor. “Don’t worry Spider Freak, I’m not here to steal your hero thunder.” He pulled his lips back into a manic sort of smile. “Just your life.”

He swung his tail hard and fast towards the red and blue suited hero, scraping up concrete as he slid it towards him.

Peter was faster of course, easily jumping to avoid the attack, he landed on a nearby truck. “You know I wanna say that wasn’t very nice but I’m getting the feeling you don’t plan on playing nice guy.”

His eyes scanned the area, people were still in buildings and that tail was gonna be an issues. It uprooted part of the road like it had been nothing.

“Just want to get an idea of just how jumpy you are little Spider.” He kept his body low to the ground as he crouched, he wasn’t making wild flails anymore. His prize had gotten the message, that was what mattered.

That fact wasn’t lost on Peter either. “So you want to do this mano el mano huh?” Did he say that right? Probably not. Why did his brain make him say such silly things.

“I wanted to make sure you suffered, this is personal to me Spider-Man and once you are out of the way I can get back to enjoying my little life of crime.” He twitched the tail a hair and a long blade slid out the tip, dripping with his homemade toxin.

“You got the webs kid, I have the poison.” His tail lunged, much faster than his first attack.

Peter moved to dodged again, this time the tail came about an inch away from scoring his legs. His muscles went taunt and he felt his senses tune in. This guy meant business. “Any suggestions Karen?”

“We should call Boss, the enemy suit had very few weak points, it moves with the same fluidity of your suit as well but the main concern is the tail. It’s filled with a toxin that I do believe might be designed to affect you despite your healing.” Her voice surged with concern.

He jumped this time as the tail came at him again. He didn’t want to involve Mr.Stark with this, but he had also promised. “What are my chances of taking this guy on my own?” He shot a web, it caught his feet but the blade on the tail snipped right through it.

“If you can avoid the tail and get in close your chances of winning are at 68% as of now.” 

He liked those odds but were they good enough? “So mind telling me why you want me dead so bad?”

The Scorpion guy ran and jumped, the tail acting as an extender and support to move him closer to his target, upon landing it swung out again. This time it made contact, not with the blade but the mechanical muscle of it sent Spider-Man flying into a wall.

“Oof!” Ok. Chances weren’t so great. His shoulder was mostly healed. Mostly. “Ok Karen, relay a message to Mr.Stark. Don’t call, just tell him the circumstances and our location.”

“Got it.” Her relief was evident. 

“Ah!” He rolled and dodged another attack, but he let the tail distract him. The man himself had moved closer and he found himself on the receiving end of a rather well placed punch to his jaw.

“You helped put me away Spider-Man.” He sounded angrier now, a little more unstable.

“Sorry dude it’s what I do.” He flipped, his foot connecting with the other’s chin before he stuck to a wall. He watched the Scorpion stumble and regain his balance.

“Try as I might Toomes wouldn't give up your name either.” Those words were spat out venomously.

They were also enough to freeze Peter longer than they should have, his heart pounding at the mention of Liz’s dad. The Vulture.

“Peter!” Karen’s voice came across much louder this time.

He snapped his head to the left as is spidey sense screamed at him, he moved to jump but the blade cut his shoulder.

He bit back the cry of pain, it was just a cut. He jumped away. “Karen, switch to Electro-Web.” He saw the switch take place on his screen.

The second his feet hit the road he ran full force towards his enemy. At about six feet away he jumped hard, his body twisting as he flung himself over the Scorpion and shot is web where the tail connected at the base.

He landed as the man’s cry of outrage filled his ears, he was winded but felt victorious at his quick thinking. He saw the man fighting for control over his extra appendage.

“Looks like you are having some technical difficulties there buddy.”

“Trust me Spider-Man it’ll take more than that.” He brought up a panel on his right wrist and soon enough the web was melting off the tail, which quickly came back to life.

The way it moved was almost like a snake more than a tail as it waved overhead. “Gotta say, that thing is more creepy than anything.”

“Glad you like it, since it’s the last thing you’ll see. Even if I don’t kill you here and now you have already been infected with that toxin. It’s a real puzzle to find an antidote too.” He sounded so sure of himself.

Peter knew he wasn’t lying completely, his body felt heavy and hot already. “I don’t know. I tend to bounce back pretty fast.” He had come back from the dead once, been shot and lived. He might have named himself Cat-Man as it seemed he had nine lives.

“Also I think you should have done your research a little better before coming after me.”

“Oh yea? Why is that?” But before his foe could respond his tail lunged again, hard enough to kick up dirt and gravel as it tore through the concrete once more at a much faster speed. Euphoria engulfed him when he saw the kid didn’t dodge, but it was quickly replaced with confusion when he felt his weapon go lax.

What he was not expecting as the dust settled was to see Ironman standing there, restraining the tail with ease. “What?!”

“Next time you want to mess with my kid, don’t.” He tore the blade from the tail easily, slinging the tail back as he aimed his repulsors at the guy who was stupid enough to attack Peter.

Peter picked the blade up, it had the toxin and with it they could backtrack it and find an antidote. “See I’m trying this whole working together and communicating with others thing.” He waved the blade around with a grin. “Turns out communication is key!”

Scorpion went to retort but was immediately rendered unconscious when he was hit square in the chest with the energy from the repulsor and sent flying through a brick wall. 

Tony looked back to his Spiderling and sighed. “I contacted the authorities and they will collect him, we need to get that shoulder looked at.” He heard the sirens headed this way, glanced back to make sure the tail freak wouldn’t be waking up. “You good to swing or...yea no I’ll just carry you.”

Peter wanted to protest but he was so not feeling it, in fact he just nodded and kind of held his arms out.

Tony grinned under his helmet, he scooped the kid up bridal style. “It’s alright kid, we’ll get you fixed up in no time.” He took off, heading home.

“Least…..I called you.” He leaned his head against Tony’s armor.

“Yea you did.” He shifted him a little closer to shield him from the wind. “I’m proud of you kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> I really think I have got the hang of the plot now!!


	17. Heart and Stomach Aches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it takes a little heartache to bring you closer together.
> 
> And sometimes stomachaches are a little worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a few days since my last update guys but here is the newest chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!

Once they got back home Tony was quick to get started on finding an antidote for the poison, it was a rather complicated pattern but between him and Friday it took about two hours to break it down and rebuild the cure. Now they just had to wait another hour for it to finish synthesizing.

Peter was laid up on the couch he had in his lab, he wasn’t to bad off yet but he was exhausted and pale as the poison worked its way through his bloodstream. His healing barely slowed it at all. His eyes were closed and lips slightly parted as he just let his body rest.

A tremor ran through him though when he felt fingers comb lightly through his hair. It was an incredibly tender gesture as it continued the motion for a few moments before going to pull away but Peter didn’t feel good and without putting much thought into it he made a small sound of displeasure. Then he reached for the hand and pulled it to his face, nuzzling it gently at first.

He heard a chuckle and his eyes snapped open, he let the hand drop and jerked upright to look at Mr.Stark. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. I guess I zoned out harder than I realized.” His whole face felt like it was on fire now.

“It’s fine kid, just hang in there a little longer so I can get this antidote for you. We still have almost an hour, did you wanna go into the living area and watch tv?” Tony felt fondness for the kid swell in his heart. It seemed since they had talked that things were actually working for the better, both of them more able to communicate with each other.

“Yea uh that sounds fine.” Peter pushed to his feet, taking a breath to steady himself. He felt bad, while it was cool things were working out between him and his mentor he was wondering of maybe he was taking up to much of his time.

His fears came to even more of a realization when they reached the living room and Pepper was sitting on the chair with Morgan snuggled on her lap. Tony should have been here with them the whole time.

Upon entering the room Morgan snapped around to look at them, she let out a squeak and crawled away from her mom to run over, not to her father though but to Peter. “Pete! I want you to hold me!” She sounded so determined.

Tony rushed forward to stop her but before he could Peter had stooped over to scoop the little girl up, masking his grimace smoothly as he grinned.

“I think I can manage that Morgan, what were you and mommy watching?” He might hate himself internally but that didn’t mean he had to make Morgan feel bad about anything. Besides it made him feel warm inside that she had wanted him to hold her.

“Criminal Minds!” She hugged his neck and moved to whisper in his ear. “I know who the bad guy is but we have to let mommy find out for herself.” 

Peter nodded, his face splitting with a grin as he moved to sit on the couch. His body was tired and it ached, but her warmth as she snuggled closer was almost enough to make that all vanish. “Well your mommy is even smarter than your dad so I’m sure she’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“Hey now, I’m at least….”Tony pretended to think a moment before smiling at his wife. “Twelve percent as smart as Pep.”

Pepper looked at him with a startled expression before her eyes rapidly filled with tears.

“Oh no Pep, I didn’t mean….I’m sorry.” Tony moved closer, crouching in front of her. “I didn’t mean to make you cry Pepper.”

Peter stood. “Hey Mor, let’s get out of here so Mommy and Daddy can talk.” His voice just a whisper.

She nodded. “Yea, we should probably go get some ice cream.” She said with a very serious tone.

He shook his head. “I’m forever doomed to be your slave huh?” She already had him wrapped around her little finger.

“Not my slave. Just my cool big brother. That wants to take his cute sister for ice cream.” Her hand had come up and her fingers curled at his nape, eyes so full of trust.

And there was no way he could say no. “Ice cream it is.” He saw Tony whispering to Pepper and took this chance to carry Morgan out. He wouldn’t go far, he informed Friday once he was out of the living area to let Mr.Stark know he had Morgan and was taking her to get ice cream if the man asked or started worrying.

Of course had he thought about it, he may have decided to wait for this little adventure after he’d been cured of the poison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony reached out for his wife’s hand. “What is it Pep?”

She shook her head, lips pursed as she tried to compose herself. She took a few deep breaths before looking back up at him. She gave a small tilt of her head, a sad smile forming. “Tony I am so happy to have you here with me but at times when you talk it feels like...you're not the same man I married.” She held up a hand to hush him before he could speak. “Then just now when you said that, it was all you. The Tony Stark I fought for years to be with.” She let her smile grow a little wider. “How do you do it?”

He spread his arms before her and just smiled. “I never do anything halfway Pep. I know this is a hard transition Pepper but it’s me. I’m not just some program designed to be your husband, it is me me.” He reached out and took her hand, he put it over where his heart was steadily beating.

“I am alive, I feel and I love you. I know you were there that day.” His heart cracked at the small sob that escaped her. “I know you were there in that moment you had to let me go, it must have been the hardest thing you have ever done and I am so sorry I made you live through that Pep. But I swear I won’t ever leave you again.”

She was in his arms, her sobs muffled as she buried her face against his chest. She knew it would take a long time to heal, but she also knew she felt safe in his arms right now and that’s what mattered.

“I love you Tony. I have stuck by you through everything else life has thrown our way, so I don’t have any intention of leaving now when I just got you back.”

Tony released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as he kissed the top of her hair. “Pep I would be lost without you.”

She let out a soft sort of laugh, pulling back to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Yes dear, I know.”

He grinner and was about to say more when Friday interrupted. 

“Boss, the antidote for Peter’s toxin has been completed, it is imperative you get it to him immediately. I continued testing on the poisons as you directed, if my calculations are correct the poison is currently attacking Peter’s vital organs.”

“Shit.”He whirled to face the couch where he’d last seen Peter, of course it was empty. He should have known the kid would want him to have privacy. “Friday, where are Peter and Morgan?”

“Peter took Morgan to get ice cream in order to give you both a little time to yourselves. I believe they went to the shop a few blocks from here.”

He ran his hand through his hair and nodded. “Alright Pep I have to go and get them. Peter needs that antidote fast or he is gonna end up seriously ill.”

“Of course, go get them. It’s not far Tony I’m sure Peter is fine.” She smiled at him in that way that just reassured him that the world around him wasn’t falling apart.

“Right.” He kissed her quick before he took off, heading to find his shamelessly reckless kids.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter watched as Morgan happily ate her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, her mouth a sticky mess that didn’t seem to phase her. He couldn’t help but smile despite his growing discomfort. His stomach was cramping pretty badly which was making it hard for him to eat any of his plain vanilla ice cream.

“Are you not gonna eat yours?” Morgan had paused her own enjoyment to ask him.

“Yea! I’m just taking my time.” He tried to prove it to her by taking a larger bite, but as soon as he swallowed his stomach twisted into knots.

“Peter you look kinda funny. Are you ok?” Morgan was young and suddenly sounded very worried. Her new brother was looking a little green and she was pretty sure that wasn’t normal.

But he didn’t say anything, he just grabbed at his stomach and seemed to double over. She dropped her ice cream and moved to put her hand on his back rubbing gently.

“Morgan!”

She whipped around as she saw her dad headed towards them, causing people to stop and stare. 

“Daddy! Something is wrong with Peter!” She moved to run towards him, she took his hand when he offered it and they went back to Peter.

Tony knelt beside where Peter was hunched over. “Come on kid, we gotta get you home and give you some of that medicine.”

Peter nodded, attempting to stand. But his world tilted and suddenly he wasn’t in control. He felt the hot liquid rise up and his eyes burned. The last thing he saw was a pool of red at his feet before the world went black.

He knew though as everything faded, that Mr.Stark would make it ok again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, little more angst but also some more bonding. I thought we needed to show a little healing for Tony and Pepper. She needed it I think.
> 
> As always kudos and comments are awesome but even without them I hope you continue to enjoy this story!


	18. Not as it seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guys I am so sorry for how long it's been since I update. I was waiting to see Far From Home and get some much needed inspiration. But here is the next chapter and I really hope you like it!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter we begin to dive a little deeper into what happened while Tony was gone, and it only gets darker from here.

The low hum of machines and the steady beep of a monitor were the first things Peter registered as he began to come to. His eyelids felt heavy as he attempted to pry them open. Once he was able to blink he could see Tony sitting next to him, he had a book turned down in his lap, his face lax with sleep.

It was very surreal, the man looked so human even though Peter knew part of him would never be the same.

“It’s rather amazing what you did to help bring him back Mr.Parker.” Said a voice from the other side of the bed.

A tremor ran through his body as he turned his head to look at Dr. Strange. “What are you doing here?”

The sorcerer barely twitched his lips in acknowledgement. “I happened to be curious about Mr.Stark’s return, it was merely a coincidence I happen to arrive as the were attending to you. The antidote wasn’t working fast enough so I helped to get you stable until you could begin to heal.”

He believed what he was being told, but something still seemed off. “You know I just followed a plan right? I didn’t do anything like time travel.”

“Oh I’m perfectly aware of what took place in order to bring him back Parker, I’m just curious as to why you felt the need to play with destiny to such an extreme?” Stephen had been more than mildly alarmed when Tony Stark had come back into existence. It had not been something he had anticipated, more so that he the man was so wholly Stark himself, not just some copy version of the once great man.

His head felt sluggish but even in this state he could tell Dr.Strange was not entirely pleased with his aid in bringing Mr.Stark back, despite the burning in his gut he forced himself to sit up. “He had a plan, just like you looked into the future, this was his plan to survive. A chance at life I think he deserves after what he did to save us. Not just with Thanos but each and every time.” He grit his teeth against the rolling of his insides. Both pain and anger were beginning to bubble up.

“I don’t disagree with you entirely, but I can assure you this will have unexpected consequences. As for you, for someone who has done so much for this mentor of yours I can’t understand why it is you haven’t been honest with him about all that has happened to you since his demise.”

Peter froze, he knew what Strange meant. The trip to Europe, his identity being revealed and his coming to ask for Strange to help him remedy the situation. And he had helped, using a rather powerful spell that made memory adjustments. People had still been aware of most of it but little things had been changed. People no longer knew who Spider-Man was but he had to give up a moment. So he lost the moment he and MJ had connected.

He had altered just enough that no one was overly suspicious of him anymore, but he knew. He had to simply pretend it didn’t happen the way he recalled it. It was something he could deal with, though since it happened MJ hadn’t seemed the same which caused a deep ache in his heart and there was also still the fear of what Beck’s lackeys might do down the road as well.

“I did what I had to do to protect those I love, the less people that know about what happened the better.”

“Perhaps, but it would seem you have decided to shoulder a great deal of responsibility as of late for someone so young. You face your journey to Europe alone, being a part of what allowed Tony to live once more. All the while you dive deeper into your role as Spider-Man.” Strange spoke softly, his eyes shining for a moment in what seemed to be concern for the boy.

He couldn’t look at the wizard anymore, eyes downcast as he gave a halfhearted shrug. “I have been through plenty and some of it I’m learning to be ok with. I am Spider-Man. I’m the hero, the one Tony left Edith to and failed, so I have to be stronger.” His hands fisted in his lap as all his failures flashed through his mind. “I can’t be that weak or naive anymore.”

Peter started when hands slid over his, covering them warmly. He glanced up to meet Strange’s eyes. Not at all expecting the man to show him any kind of affection.

“Peter I know what happened, so at the very least you may come speak with me if you feel the need to. I am well aware that I am not the most open of people but despite claims to my lack of heart I do care about your well being.” The corners of his eyes crinkled with the small smile he offered the boy.

His heart clenched for a moment and then an odd sort of relief flooded him. He hadn’t been able to talk about certain things with anyone because of what he had done to make sure they were safe. But he still had nightmares about Beck, his world of illusions and the pain they had caused. He turned his hand slightly, grasping just barely at Strange’s hand. “Thank you.” Barely came out above a whisper.

Before Stephen could say anything else Tony stirred, his eyes doing an odd sort of flicker. He had made the body so very human that it slept but it seemed it was more of a semi shut down stasis which explains why he hadn’t woken up when they spoke. Perhaps had he been directly awoken it would have been different but clearly this body would sleep a little deeper than the original Tony had.

One thing that had not changed though was his wary nature, his eyes flickering between the wizard and his kid. “Hey Strange, I see you have been looking out for Pete huh?”

“Stark, he and I were just chatting about how he was feeling.” He stood, not missing how Peter’s fingers flexed as though to hold a moment longer.  “I should be leaving, my reason for visiting can wait until Mr.Parker feels better.” Without another word he turned sharply and left the two of them alone.

Tony was quiet for a long moment before looking at Peter who was still pale and looked mostly exhausted. “Didn’t realize you and the Magic Doc were so close, when did that happen Petey?”

He spoke before he could even think. “I guess a lot happened while you were gone Mr.Stark.” He had an instant sense of regret and whipped his head up to look at the other, seeing the pained look his guilt only grew. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I get it, it was six months without me. Things couldn’t just stay the same.” He would be lying if he said he hadn’t felt bitter when he saw Peter looking so comforted by Strange.

Peter laughed, it sounded caught between amused and broken. “I get that. I’m still not sure how to move forward after having been gone for five years. It’s just been a day after day so far.” The whole Beck incident had made the recovering even more difficult.

“Aw Pete, listen I know none of this has been even close to easy but I want to help you move forward however I can. I don’t think it’ll be easy, but I’m here for you every step of the way.” He just wanted to make things right again.

“Mr.Stark what you did saved us all, it’s just a lot to adjust to. I’ll get there but you also have to focus on healing your family as well. Pepper and Morgan need you, even Rhodey was lost without you.” He forced a small smile. “I appreciate how much you do for me, but it can’t all be for me.”

He was taken aback by the kid’s dismissal of his earnest need to help, or maybe he was right. He realized a part of him might be so focused on Peter because of the five years he missed but he knew his own family must have felt just as lost as he had all those years. “Can I make a suggestion?”

Peter quirked a brow, his eyes curious as he nodded.

“How about instead of it being one of the other we all work on this? We all need healing Peter. I was thinking maybe we could start a weekly family thing. All of us, you and May with me, Pep and Morgan. Even Happy and Rhodey.” He thought a moment. “Then maybe we could start working in the lab again two days a week and then I will spend time with Pepper and Morgan as well while you promise to enjoy some real time with May.”

Peter felt his stomach unclench at the suggestion. He wasn’t being excluded but it didn’t sound to overwhelming either. “That might be good...I do love Morgan.”

“Well this is just temporary, eventually it will be more and more time with all of us together but I think easing into it would be less of a mental burden on any one person.” He honestly wanted to just force Peter and May to move in with them but he knew that was overstepping and boundaries in this case needed to be maintained.

“That sounds really good Mr.Stark, but can we talk more about it later? I am still really tired.” He could feel his eyes beginning to droop already.

“Sure, get some rest kid.” He stood, bending to reach out and gently pat Peter’s leg. Smiling as the sound of the kid’s snores found his ears before he even made it out of the room.

He strolled through the kitchen and found Pepper, he told her about his plan and she seemed really on board with it, before telling him to go wash up for dinner. She swatted him away with her hand towel when he teased her about going from heels and running his whole company to barefoot and cooking his dinners. 

He was still smiling when he went to wash up, his eyes looking at his own reflection, face suddenly looking grim as he spoke. “Friday, do me a favor and play back the feed from Peter’s room over the last hour or so. With volume on.”

Some things never change.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My updates wont be as often but I enjoy the comments and the add fuel to the fire to keep me going with this!!


	19. Coming together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally seem to be smoothing over, both of our boys are finding peace as they start their journey of truly being alive again. So why does it feel like the calm before the storm?

It did not surprise Strange at all to hear his doorbell buzzing at nearly midnight. Cup of tea in hand, he made his way at a leisurely pace over to the door. Opening it to be even less shocked at the sight of Tony Stark standing in his doorway. “Let me guess, you spied on the conversation between the boy and I?”He assumed he was correct as Tony stepped right past him without even having been invited in yet.

“What happened in Europe? I have searched all over and nothing comes up. I can see his class had a field trip but as far as I can tell nothing is out of the ordinary, so what are you hiding?” He turned back to stare down the Sorcerer Supreme. “I know I missed a lot, that my being here is a whole cluster of not ok and hell I don’t know if I should even be here. But I am and I’m trying to understand and fix as much as I can.”

Strange observed him quietly for a moment, he and Stark had very different outlooks on life. They may very well never be friends for many reasons but those aside he did respect the man. He had given up everything to save them all, whether or not he had a back up plan or not he had no way of knowing if or when it would have ever been carried out. The one thing they did have in common though was the boy, while he may not have been as close to young Parker as Stark had been he did have the boy’s best interests at heart and right now things were looking grim for the child if he didn’t open to someone soon. So he made a choice.

“Quentin Beck.” He said solemnly. 

Tony’s brow furrowed for a moment before he was able to put a face to the name. “Ok, what about him?”

“I think it’s best if we go sit for this little story, but I need you to understand by the end of it you may be out for blood Stark.” He led the way to his study.

Tony followed, he forced himself to sit and remain as composed as he could as Strange told him everything that happened with Beck. How badly Peter had been hurt both in body and soul. What he had lost in order to protect his friends and family. How Strange had been against it, that he had offered to help clear Peter’s name and protect him but Peter Parker and Spider-Man needed to remain separate he’d insisted and there had been no changing his mind on the manner. The recount of the event clearly took its toll on Stark, he may not be entirely human anymore but the emotions openly displayed on his face said otherwise.

Tony after several long and silent minutes looked Strange in the eye. “I want to hate you, for letting him make that choice but I know him. I know if you hadn’t gone along with it then he might have taken even more drastic measures. So I have to thank you for protecting him the best you could.” he was furious, livid beyond what he thought was possible for his new brain. “So Beck’s men, do they remember any of it?”

“The only events altered were those of the trip and his identity being revealed. Beck’s men I’m sure know something happened because Beck is gone even if they have no recollection as to why and without knowing their identities myself there was nothing further I could do about it.” It had pained him to know there were still people out there after Peter that he could do nothing about until they made their move.

“Right then, well it’s late and I know you probably don’t want to put up with me anymore than necessary so I can show myself out.” He stood and headed for the door, wheels already turning about how he needed to plan his next move, in the meantime he needed to talk to Peter about a lot more than he’d realized. 

“Stark!” Strange’s stride was a bit quicker than normal as he caught up to the billionaire. “I am well aware of certain animosities between you and I, however I do owe you thanks for what you did for us even if you don’t recall it yourself. Along with the fact that I do care about the boy’s safety so if you need assistance at anytime during all of what you are about to do well...you know where to find me.”

Tony did not care for the man standing before him anymore than he was sure the man cared for him. But there was respect and understanding that there hadn’t been on that spaceship so long ago. “Thanks Strange, I’ll keep in touch.”

Strange nodded and nothing more was said, he turned back into his study without seeing the other off. Simple as that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony had actually driven himself which was a good idea as he climbed into one of his many audis. The drive back home would give him time to really process and understand all the information he’d been given, mostly about how Peter had been hit by a train. He had nearly been driven crazy, was betrayed and had to give up the few good memories that had come from it. His hands tightened on the steering wheel.

It took him half an hour to make it back and he headed straight to where Peter was recovering, he didn’t plan on waking the kid up but he just needed to see him.

As he thought the teen was fast asleep, his skin still pale and he looked much younger this way. He was still pretty small despite all the things he had been through in such a short time.

“Misser’ Stark?” The words were slurred from sleep.

Tony tried to look as natural as possible, smiling as he leaned forward to card his fingers through Peter’s hair. “Hey Petey, how we feeling?”

“M’ok I guess. Feel a lot better than I did.” He gave a lopsided smile as he pulled himself up into a sitting position to better gauge the man. “How about you? Ever since….you got back, all you have done is make sure I’m ok but are you ok?” He knew the man had been through a lot and while he might not remember it happening he had to be carrying with him so much weight from knowing he’d died.

Tony was taken aback by Peter’s astute observation on the manner. He let himself slump back in the chair beside the hospital bed. “To be honest I’ve tried to avoid thinking about it. I feel like me, think like me and remember almost every detail I should but...sometimes it all feels a bit out of reach.” It was almost like having a continuous out of body experience.

“How so?” He had died without really knowing it had happened and when he came back it was almost like he had just blinked but he wasn’t sure their mutual experiences shared much more than that in common.

“Well I mean as advanced as I made this A.I. system I guess I’m scared it’s not good enough...I’m not good enough.” the very real fear he’d been battling back this whole time suddenly began to rear its ugly head. “What if I’m not human enough to be Morgan’s father or Pepper’s husband?”

Peter thought a moment before he smiled and slowly scooted to the edge of the bed so that he could put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Mr.Stark I think those feelings right there mean you are more than human enough. Vision is always learning and adapting, so yea you might hit a few bumps but I think you are very much Tony Stark.”

He had to blink back the heat in his eyes as he met Peter’s warm gaze. “When did you get to be so smart kid?”

“I mean I’m pretty sure I’ve always been smart otherwise I don’t think you ever would have recruited me huh?” He felt a real grin tug at his mouth until it stretched across his face. It felt good to talk like this with his mentor, like things were finally starting to fall into place after a very long time.

“You are a wise ass Mr.Parker but you aren’t wrong.” He got back to his feet, beginning to make his way to the door. “Listen it might take awhile for all of this to get back to normal, for both of us but you gotta know now that we are both on the same page I don’t plan on ever letting anything happen again to pull us apart.”

Peter flushed at the words and looked down at his hands as he plucked at the bed sheet. “I know ...and I’ll be here to make sure you always remember you are the one and only Tony Stark.”

“Yea ...thanks kid.” He smiled once, taking just a moment to revel in how far they had come to reach this point. “Get some sleep, we both could use some.”

He just nodded softly before inching back under the sheet and rolling over to his side, sleep came easier than it had in a very long time. He could feel the broken parts inside slowly starting to heal and it was probably one of the most wonderful things he had ever felt. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ Three Weeks Later _

 

Peter sat on the edge of the roof, his feet dangling over the edge as he watched the sun set. He was munching on a vendor hotdog and watching people walk around below without an obvious care in the world. “Karen, do you think anyone else is out there watching over the same people I am?”

_ I do not know Peter, but I would like to assume there are others out there that care as much as you and the rest of the Avengers. Also Friday would like me to remind you that you are supposed to have dinner with the Starks at 7:00pm sharp. _

He grimaced internally. “I remember, I’m not sure I can make it. I have a lot of homework tonight.” Which was a lie, but Mr.Stark had him coming over almost every other day which wasn’t exactly a bad thing but they weren’t easing into it like they had discussed and he knew by this point that he was genuinely monopolizing the man’s time. He’d caught Pepper watching them or catch when Morgan sometimes had to call her dad twice to pull his attention away from Peter. He knew the man cared about them all but he was beginning to see that Mr.Stark had become a little obsessed with making sure he was ok. He needed them to have space so his family could also enjoy him being back. “Please tell Friday that I won’t be there tonight, I’m going to catch up on my essays and have dinner with May. I’m heading home now in fact.” He climbed to his feet and began his swing home.

_ Friday said Mr.Stark will find that unacceptable as he expects you there. How would you like me to respond? _

“I’m not going tonight and that’s final, if he asks then she can tell him that I’m not hurt or mad. I’m a teenager and I still have a lot of work to catch up on from being dead for five years.” He snorted at his own sarcasm, he would rather be dead again then have five years worth of makeup homework.

_ Very well Peter. _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He swung into his bedroom and had pulled off his mask, he took a few minutes to clean up and change before walking out into the kitchen where May was. “Hey May.”

She turned, her eyes a bit dazed as she held the phone in her hand. “Uh Peter, Mr.Stark just called me. He invited me to dinner with all of you this evening and if I’m being honest he wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

His jaw clenched as he closed his eyes. “Ok I’ll call him and decline, I planned on just you and I hanging out tonight.” He grabbed his cell before she could respond and hit Tony’s name, he picked up on the second ring. “Listen Mr.Stark I appreciate you including May but I kinda just wanted to chill at home with just her and me tonight.”

“And I don’t appreciate you making crack jokes about having homework from being dead. But here we are, I don’t think it will kill you to wait a day before having your Aunt Hottie time.” His voice was tight and clipped despite the joke.

Peter tried to think a moment about how to handle this without causing a stupid fight over nothing. “Ok well if I come tonight then I won’t come over for a few days after then is that ok? I do have schoolwork, I have been promising Ned to hang out and I kinda wanna see Gwen again so I need a little Peter time.” That all sounded very reasonable to him and it was all true.

But there was just a long pause of silence on the other end.

“Mr.Stark? Is that ok with you?”

“....Ah sure Pete, you have a life. I should have been more considerate of that. Come over tonight like we planned and then I’ll stop bugging you for a few days. See ya soon.” He hung up without another word.

Peter stared at his phone for a moment, he did not have a good feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a hot minute since I updated and I can't tell you when the next one will be. I was struck with inspiration for this chapter and have a good idea where it's headed so here is hoping for the best guys!!


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